In order to understand the pollution characteristics of heavy metals in the surface sediments of mainstream and its tributaries of the Maozhou river in Shenzhen,the concentrations of 7 metals including Pb,Cr,Cd,Cu,Zn,Ni and As in 34 sediment samples were analyzed.Index of geo-accumulation,pollution load index and potential ecological risk index were utilized to access the pollution level and potential ecological risk of heavy metals.The results showed that the sediments of Maozhou river were characterized by elevated levels of Pb,Cd,Cr,Cu,Zn and Ni,which exceeded the average content of heavy metal in the sediments of lakes in China.According to the national Marine sediments standard,most of Cr,Cu,Zn and Ni were higher than the threshold values of class Ⅲ.In addition,index of geo-accumulation followed the order of Cu>Ni~Zn~Cd~Cr>Pb>As,pollution load index was Cu>Ni~Zn>Cd~Cr>Pb>As and the order of potential ecological risk index was Cd~Cu>Ni>Cr~Zn>As~Pb,which indicated that the sediment was polluted by Cu,Zn,Ni,Cd and Cr.