Abstract: Eighteen sediment cores collected from the estuarine and coastal zone of Shanghai City (from the northernmost point-Liuhe Estuary-to the southernmost point -Jinsiniang Bridge of Hangzhou Bay) were analyzed to investigate sediment acid-volatile sulfide (AVS) content and its vertical profile and spatial distribution characteristics. The results showed that the AVS content of the sediments ranged from 0.38 to 317.60 mg/kg. The average AVS content was highest in thebottom layer of the sediment core, which was almost two times that of the surface layer and middle layer. The spatial distribution of AVS content showed significant changes in the bottom layer sediments, but showed only slight changes in the surface layer sediments. Human activities such as coastal zone reclamation, industrial sewage, living sewage, and animal husbandry, etc. may be the primary factors affecting AVS spatial distribution in the estuarine and coastal sedimentsof Shanghai City, since the natural environmental factors such as the sediment organic carbon content, water ratio, granule size and E_h changed deeply.