(Table 1) Mineral composition of 0.100-0.050 mm size fraction from surface layer bottom sediments of the western South China Sea

Distribution of mineral assemblages in sediments of both shelf and continental slope of Vietnam is under consideration. Mineral provinces are recognized and their characteristics are given. Principal regularities of formation of mineral composition in marine sediments (with their supply provinces mainly located in the subequatorial belt) are shown on the basis of multivariate statistics methods (correlation, factor, cluster, regression and discriminant analyses). It is established that influence of climate on formation of the mineral assemblages is noticeable, but not determining.