The main problems discussed are pollutant transport between sediment and water; sorption of pollutants to particles in water column;sediment related water quality,health and management.

Mercury,arsenic and antimony are common items in soil and river sediment samples in environment monitoring.

The Korean r iver sediments have much lower TIC,C a and carbona te contents than Chinese river sediments,whereas the Changjiang sediment is cha racterized by hi gh Ti content and the Huanghe sediment by h igh Ca,Na and car bonate contents.

In terms of the geochemical distribution and seasonal variation of N, P and trace heavymetals in the sediments, Brisbane, Australia, this paper discusses some research methods applica-ble to environmental geochemistry of river sediments, and the mechanism of river pollution, pro-viding the important scientific basis for river evaluation and environmental arrangement control.

By analyzing the mercury contained in the waters,soil,propagations and sediments near the gold mine,on the upper Songhua River,which is along the east of Jilin Province,we have founded that the mercury pollution in river sediments was very serious.

There is a variety of environmental information contained in the river sediments.