Evolution of reconnection for different plasma-β. Here we show the temporal variation of the maximum current, J_max (panel a), and the maximum velocity, V_max (panel b), in the vicinity of the reconnection region as defined by the dashed rectangles in Figs. 2b–d. Panel c: total kinetic energy, E_kin, integrated over the same rectangle. The differently colored curves show the evolution for the models with different plasma-β in the reconnection region as outline in the legend. The red double-arrows indicate the time of the driving at the bottom boundary. See Sect. 3.2.