The  heavy  metals  generally,  enter  the  aquatic  environment  through  atmospheric deposition,  erosion of geological matrix or due to anthropogenic activities caused by industrial effluents, domestic sewage and mining wastes. The main objectives of this paper is to understand the
processes  controlling  major  and  trace  elements  in  the  surface  water  and  to  identify  natural and  anthropogenic  sources  in  the  coastal  environment  using  distribution  of  elemental concentrations to establish regional baseline levels. Totally, 25 samples were collected from
offshore  Pondicherry  and  Veerampattnam  upto  12  mts  depth.Metal  enrichments  observed close to the major urban areas in the Pondicherry coast are associated with the industrialized activities  areas  rich  in  Zn  and  Pb  in  the  coastal  sediments.The  higher  concentration  is
observed in the Pondicherry region than the Veerampatnam.