The micromorphology of six Vertisols (two black clay soils from Xincai of Henan Province, two pell clay soils from Zhangpu of Fujian Province and two chrom clay soils from Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region) and two other related soils from Fengqiou of Henan Province and Zhangpu of Fujian Province were studied.The voids, peds, optically oriented clays and plasimic fabrics in the Vertisols are markedly related with clay contents, clay mineralogy and shrink-swell potential, according to the macro-, micro- and submicromorphological studies and the wetting-drying and shrink-swell experiment. All the six Vertisols have granular and fine angular blocky structures in surface layers, and have medium and coarse angular blocky structures in the "vertic horizons", of which the secondary and tertiary peds are well developed, especially in the pell clay soils. The voids in thin sections of all the six Vertisols are mainly the fissures and hairline cracks ranging from 0.005 to 5 mm in width, especially in the "vertic horizons". The fibrous form of optieally oriented clays are formed in all horizons of pell clay soils and in the surface and sub-surface "black" layers of black clay soils. However, they are not found in the chrom clay soils and in the lower horizons of black clay soils, as the high content of carbonates could confine山e rearrangement of clays in place. The higher the content of clays, and the more the expansive clays and the greater the shrink-swell potential are in the Vertisols, the more and better developed the fissures, structures and oriented clays have been formed.