Figure 7-7Jupiter’s Belts and Zones The light-colored zones and dark-colored belts in Jupiter’s atmosphere are regions of rising and descending gases, respectively. In the zones, gases warmed by heat from Jupiter’s interior rise upward and cool, forming high-altitude clouds. In the belts, cooled gases descend and undergo an increase in temperature; the cloud layers seen there are at lower altitudes than in the zones. Jupiter’s rapid differential rotation shapes the rising and descending gas into bands of winds parallel to the planet’s equator.