(a) Eastward current, generated by braking of the reconnection jet, is superimposed on the westward cross-tail current and connects to the auroral electrojet (Haerendel 1992a). (b) Part of the force, F _lobe, exerted by the tail lobe on the high-beta plasma layer is transferred to the ionosphere by field-aligned currents, setting up a drag force, F _ion, on the ions which is balanced by ion-neutral friction acting on the equatorward plasma drift (Haerendel 2009).