Authors: D.I. Pontin (University of Newcastle, Austrlia), E.R. Priest (University of St Andrews, UK), L.P. Chitta (Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research), V.S. Titov (Predictive Science Inc), V. Aslanyan (University of Dundee, UK)

We propose that flux cancellation on small granular scales ubiquitously drives reconnection at a multitude of sites in the low solar atmosphere, contributing to coronal/chromospheric heating and the generation of the solar wind. We analyse the energy conversion in these small-scale flux cancellation events using both analytical models and three-dimensional, resistive magnetohydrodynamic simulations. The analytical models allow us to estimate the energy release rate for cancellation events of different sizes, and it is found to be sufficient to heat the chromosphere and corona on the basis of the latest estimates of flux cancellation rates. The MHD simulations confirm the conversion of energy in reconnecting current sheets, in a geometry representing a small-scale bipole being advected towards an intergranular lane. A ribbon-like jet of heated plasma is accelerated upwards. We conclude that through two phases of atmospheric energy release — pre-cancellation and cancellation — the cancellation of photospheric magnetic flux fragments may provide a significant contribution to coronal heating and solar wind generation.