Artifacts arising from aperiodic turbulent spin dynamics in gradient-based nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) applications are comprehensively surveyed and numerically simulated by a nonlinear Bloch equation. The unexpected dynamics, triggered by the joint action of radiation damping and the distant dipolar field, markedly deteriorate the performance of certain pulse sequences incorporating weak pulsed-field gradients and long evolution times. The effects are demonstrated in three general classes of gradient NMR applications: solvent signal suppression, diffusion measurements, and coherence pathway selection. Gradient-modulated solvent transverse magnetization can be partially rephased in a series of self-refocusing gradient echoes that blank out solute resonances in the CHESS (chemical-shift-selective spectroscopy) and WATERGATE (gradient-tailored water suppression) solvent suppression schemes. In addition, the discovered dynamics contribute to erratic echo attenuation in pulsed gradient spin echo (PGSE) and PGSE stimulated echo diffusion measurements and produce coherence leakage in gradient-selected DQFCOSY and HMQC experiments. Specific remedies for minimizing unwanted effects are presented.