Abstract:The coastal zone is located at the junction of land and sea. The intensive developing human activities makes the environment change more and more complicated. Choosing southern coastal zone in Yantai city as the study area, selecting 686 surface soil samples, the contents of 8 heavy metals, such as As, Cd, Cr, Cu,Hg, Ni, Pb and Zn have been measured. The source and distribution characteristics of eight heavy metal elements have been analyzed by using multivariate statistical method and geostatistics. The ecological risk assessment of the southern coast in Yantai city has been carried out. It is showed that the overall pollution in the southern coastal zone in Yantai city is relatively clear, and the average of all heavy metal elements does not exceed the national second-class standard. The elements Cr, Ni and Cu are mainly derived from parent materials, As, Pb are mixed sources, Cd, Zn is mainly from the industrial waste and agricultural production. The study area is at a low ecological risk level as a whole, and Cd and Hg elements have a high ecological risk point and need to be given priority in management.