  In the outer heliosphere, beyond the solar wind termination shock, it is
expected that the warped heliospheric current sheet forms a region of
closely-packed, multiple, thin current sheets. Such a system may be subject to
the ion-kinetic tearing instability, and hence generate magnetic islands and
hot populations of ions associated with magnetic reconnection. Reconnection
processes in this environment have important implications for local particle
transport, and for particle acceleration at reconnection sites and in
turbulence. We study this complex environment by means of three-dimensional
hybrid simulations over long time scales, in order to capture the evolution
from linear growth of the tearing instability to a fully developed turbulent
state at late times. The final state develops from the highly ordered initial
state via both forward and inverse cascades. Component and spectral anisotropy
in the magnetic fluctuations is present when a guide field is included. The
inclusion of a population of new-born interstellar pickup protons does not
strongly affect these results. Finally, we conclude that reconnection between
multiple current sheets can act as an important source of turbulence in the
outer heliosphere, with implications for energetic particle acceleration and
propagation.
