The textural characteristics, the total suspended matter and the coarse fraction components of the surface sediments of the marine environment on the Cheju Strait are described and the distribution pattern of clay mineral discussed. The sediments are subdivied into ten textural classes; namely sand, slightly gravilly muddy sand, muddy sand, sandy clay, slightly gravelly sandy mud, mud and clay. the coarse sediments are distributed in the central and southeastern parts of the Cheju Strait which are bathymetric highs, whereas the fine-grained deposits are mainly distributed in the northeastern region, and the small scale of coarse and fine-grained mixed sediments are distributed in the western part of the study area. The high concentration of the total suspended matter in the study area gradually increase toward the northeastern nearshore area. The light minerals such as K-feldspar show a high content toward the northern region, which is related to the weathering of granites and metamorphic rooks on the adjacent lands, but the Na-Ca feldspars are relatively high near the northern part off Cheju Island. The illite is the most widespread clay mineral and the high concentrations of illite gradually increase toward the southern offshore. It is presumed that they are largely transported by the Kuroshio Current from the East China Sea such as Yellow Sea Warm Current and Tsushima Warm Current. Smectite is highly concentrated in the central part and arround off the Cheju Island it may have been partly derived from the central Yellow Sea by the local ocean current and the result of supplies of smectite altered from volcanic materials distributed in the Cheju Island. Therelative abundance of kaolinite shows a high in the northern nearshore area rather than in other regions, which are probably the results of supply from the southwestern Korea Rivers such as the Youngsan and Seomjin River. Chlorite shows partly similar distribution trend to that of kaolinite. This is related to the weathering of metamorphic rocks on adjacent lands. As to the controlling factors of the distribution pattern of clay minerals on the Cheju Strait, it is concluded that not only regional on-land geology but also local turbid plume and major ocean circulation are important.

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