Van Allen radiation belts
From DictionGloss
The Van Allen radiation belts are two doughnut-shaped regions of trapped radiation around the Earth. The belts, which do not extend over the north and south poles, consist mainly of high-energy protons and electrons that exist at varying altitudes between 320 and 32,400 kilometers above the Earth. The charged particles bounce and drift in a spiral motion around the EarthÂ’s magnetic lines of force.