<正>The exchange action of six types of organic phenols on clay surfaces in seawater is systematically studied in this work. The following significant conclusions are drawn from the experiments. (1) The interaction of organic phenols with montmorillonite, illite and kaolinite in seawater is monovalent anion exchage.(2) Their isotherms of stepwise exchage on clay surfaces belong to the Langmuir type or stepwise type.(3) The discovery of the"steric hindrance effects of stepwise exchange of organic phenols on clays surfaces", and revelation of an exchange mechanisrn diffeient from that in references are the greatest achieverments in this work.