jats:titleAbstract</jats:title> jats:pSynchrotron X-ray imaging has been used to examine jats:italicin situ</jats:italic> the deformation of dendrites that takes place during the solidification of a nickel-based superalloy. By combining absorption and diffraction contrast imaging, deformation events could be classified by their localization and permanence. In particular, a deformation mechanism arising from thermal contraction in a temperature gradient was elucidated through digital image correlation. It was concluded that this mechanism may explain the small misorientations typically observed in single crystal castings.</jats:p>