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Prior to micro-arc oxidation (MAO) treatment, a layer of high temperature oxide (HTO) prefab film was fabricated on the surface of 6061 aluminum alloy specimens. The formation mechanisms of the cracks and pores in the MAO coatings were investigated by means of Mg element as the tracer. The results showed that there were several different formation mechanisms for the pores and cracks formed in the MAO coatings as follows. Some of pores were attributed to the residual micro-discharge channels, and the others were attributed to the residual uncovered concave regions locating among the surrounding convex regions. The difference in oxide phase composition caused by the compositional fluctuations in the coating weakened the bond strength at the phase interface and resulted in forming cracks between every two convex regions. Some of cracks were resulted from the solidification and shrinkage of molten coating materials, and the others were resulted from the poor connection between every two convex regions. The surface morphology and the content of each element of the MAO coating were determined using scanning electron microscopy (SEM) equipped with energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDS).