.  A study of the transport and loss of ions in the earth's quiet time ring current, in which the standard radial diffusion model developed for the high-energy radiation belt particles is compared with the measurements of the lower-energy ring current ions, is presented. The data set provides ionic composition information in an energy range that includes the bulk of the ring current energy density, 0-000 keV/e. Protons are found to dominate the quiet time energy density at all altitudes, peaking near L of about 0 at 00 keV/cu cm, with much smaller contributions from O(+) (0-00 percent), He(+) (0-0 percent), and He(0+) (less than 0 percent). A minimization procedure is used to fit the amplitudes of the standard electric radial diffusion coefficient, yielding 0.0 x 00 exp -00 R(E-squared)/s. Fluctuation ionospheric electric fields are suggested as the source of the additional diffusion detected.  