Experiments were performed on the atomization of Carbopol–water gels of compositions in the range 0.10–0.30 gellant wt.% on a like-on-like jet impingement configuration. Analysis indicates two primary modes of sheet breakup: perforation driven and wave driven. While perforation-driven breakup is not seen for the lowest gellant concentration case, 0.10 wt.%, the wave-driven breakup is present in all cases within the range of investigated jet velocities. Based on the observations, a mechanism involving feedback between the impingement point and the sheet vertex, and a separation front initiated in between the impingement point and the sheet vertex are proposed for the wave-driven breakup.