Edge-localized modes (ELMs) eject intense bursts of heat and particles that threaten plasma-facing components in fusion reactors. Nonlinear full-torus $\mathrm{BOUT}++$ simulations show that turbulence-driven zonal magnetic fields (ZMFs) play an essential role in nonlinear ELM evolution by maintaining self-consistent force balance. Zonal flows mitigate the initial crash through shear but do not prevent continued radial transport. When ZMFs are self-consistently included, turbulence-driven zonal currents modify the parallel current distribution and magnetic tension and are associated with a reduction of the axisymmetric ($n=0$) perturbed radial force imbalance. This coincides with a transition from convective, bursty propagation to more localized, diffusive transport. Similar behavior is observed across the regimes considered, including both resistive-ballooning and peeling-ballooning cases. Associated signatures, including radial electric field shear and parallel current redistribution, provide experimentally accessible diagnostics for present devices and ITER-relevant conditions.

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• Boundary layers
• Edge localized mode
• Magnetic confinement fusion
• Magnetohydrodynamic turbulence
• Magnetohydrodynamics
• Nonlinear dynamics in fluids
• Nonlinear phenomena in plasmas
• Nuclear fusion
• Plasma instabilities
• Plasma stability
• Plasma transport
• Plasma turbulence
• Shear flows
• Shear layer turbulence
• Transition to turbulence
• Turbulence
• Turbulence modeling
• Turbulence simulations
• Turbulent mixing
• Tokamaks