Abstract: Based on AMS ¹⁴C dating and grain-size analysis for Core E602, located at the outer shelf of the northern South China Sea and southwest of the Pearl River mouth, the sedimentary environment of the core is discussed. The core was formed nearshore and deposited in early Holocene. It can be divided into two sections according to lithology. The lower section is lithologically homogeneous, and mainly composed of graded suspensions formed in storm and deposited in upper part nearshore environment, and its grain-size parameters keep relatively stable. The upper section consists of homogeneous suspension and was deposited in the lower nearshore part. Sedimentation of the lower section of Core E602 shows reworking and reconstruction of sediments deposited in late Pleistocene without new terrigenous sediment and belongs to remnant sedimentation. Only during deposition of the upper section, fine terrigenous sediments took part in the sedimentation.