Abstract: The total oxygen consumption of sediment in shrimp ponds and its variation with culturalareas and seasons are determined by on-the-spot determining method which is devised by ourselves.The results show that the determined values are varied with cultural areas and seasons.In areas polluted by bait remains,the values are obviously higher than those in unpolluted areas,which are increased with the increase of temperature and the lapse of cultural period,but there is no significant change in unpolluted area.The total oxygen consumption is ranged from 1.06 to 3.96g·m^-2·d^-1.

Key words: Total oxygen comsumption, Sediment, Shrimp ponds, precipitation, deuterium isotope, West Ordos Desert, soil water