Context :

Aims : We investigate small-scale flux cancellations in a young active region observed with the high-resolution imaging magnetograph IMaX on the Sunrise balloon-borne solar observatory .

Methods : The observed Stokes profiles of the photospheric Fe i 5250.2 Å line are inverted using the SPINOR code to obtain the atmospheric parameters , including magnetic field vector and the line-of-sight velocity .
We then identified 11 opposite-polarity cancelling pairs using an automatic detection code , studied their evolution in detail , and derived their statistical properties .
We classified the cancellations into two groups .
Class I events are those for which cancellation happens between a pre-existing large magnetic feature of one polarity and a smaller feature of the other polarity that emerged/appeared nearby .
For Class II events cancellations occur between two pre-existing , previously unconnected features that converge toward each other .

Results : All studied events have an apparent cancellation time less than 10 minutes and display a significant transient linear polarization signal along the polarity inversion line .
The cancellation events are characterized by a flux decay rate of about 10 ^ { 15 } Mx s ^ { -1 } .
For Class I events , the Doppler velocity of the disappearing patch gradually switches from blueshift during the initial phase of cancellation to redshift towards the end of the cancellation .
For class II events , the Doppler velocity is consistently redshifted .
Horizontal convergence speeds of Class II pairs fall between 0.3 and 1.22 km s ^ { -1 } .
The elements often do not converge directly towards each other , so that the proper motion speeds of the individual elements is higher , in the range of 1 - 2.7 km s ^ { -1 } .

Conclusions : We propose that these cancellation events result from either field-line submergence ( Class I ) , or reconnection followed by submergence ( Class II and/or Class I ) .
Ohmic dissipation of magnetic energy could also play a role for both classes .
The dynamics and evolution of these events are influenced by neighbouring granular motions .
We propose that , at least for the Class II events , the granular motions could possibly be driving magnetic reconnection , rather than the supergranular motions proposed for the larger cancellation events studied earlier .
Specific flux cancellation rates of the Class II events seem to indicate that they belong to somewhat different category of cancellations when compared with those studied in SOT/Hinode and MDI/SOHO data .