Marine carbonate sediments is widely considered to be the products deposited in a warm and shallow sea environment for a long time, however, in recent years some overseas researches showed that the massive carbonates also can deposit in a cool-water shelf environment, namely cool-water carbonates. Based on the investigation of a large number of literatures, this paper reviews the concept, geological characteristics, sedimentary models of cool-water carbonates. Cool-water carbonates refers to the carbonate sediments or rocks deposited on the bottom of water bodies in a temperate zone or a polar zone with the latitude/palaeolatitude above about 30°~35° and the temperature below 20℃, or in a upwelling cool nutrient-rich water, so its sedimentary characteristics are different from the warm-water carbonates. The skeletal grain assemblages in cool-water carbonate sediments mainly consist of heterotrophic organisms, including benthic foraminifera, mollusks and bryozoans, and calcium red algae, but lack hermatypic coral reefs, calcified green algae and non-skeletal grains such as ooids and grain aggregates. The cool-water carbonates has less lime mud, more calcite, and heavier oxygen isotope. Its cementation is weak and its diagenesis is predominantly destructive. The cool-water carbonates has the geometry of ramp predominantly with strong wave erosion and re-sedimentation.