Microflaring in Low-Lying Core Fields and Extended Coronal Heating in the Quiet Sun

We have previously reported analyses of Yohkoh SXT data examining the relationship between the heating of extended coronal loops (both within and stemming from active regions) and microflaring in core fields lying along neutral lines near their footpoints (J. G. Porter, D. A. Falconer, and R. L. Moore 1998, in Solar Jets and Coronal Plumes, ed. T. Guyenne, ESA SP-421, and references therein). We found a surprisingly poor correlation of intensity variations in the extended loops with individual microflares in the compact heated areas at their feet, despite considerable circumstancial evidence linking the heating processes in these regions. Now, a study of Fe XII image sequences from SOHO EIT show that similar associations of core field structures with the footpoints of very extended coronal features can be found in the quiet Sun. The morphology is consistent with the finding of Wang et al. (1997, ApJ 484, L75) that polar plumes are rooted at sites of mixed polarity in the magnetic network. We find that the upstairs/downstairs intensity variations often follow the trend, identified in the active region observations, of a weak correspondence. Apparently much of the coronal heating in the extended loops is driven by a type of core field magnetic activity that is "cooler" than the events having the coronal signature of microflares, i.e., activity that results in little heating within the core fields themselves. This work was funded by the Solar Physics Branch of NASA's Office of Space Science through the SR&T Program and the SEC Guest Investigator Program.