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X-ray fluorescence (XRF) spectrometry is a well-known, well-established and widely applied technique in the determination of many major elemental compositions of earth materials. XRF confers the ability to analyse solid samples non-destructively through X-radiation. The orderliness and clarity of its emission spectrum, its great accuracy and precision make this technique a geochemical method of choice in mineralogy and investigation of the chemical composition of earth materials. There are limitations regarding the age and calibration of instruments, costs of setting up, matrix effects to be considered and the stringent sets of standards; however, XRF laboratory analyses remain the standard technique for providing high-quality geochemical data analyses in the investigation of earth elemental composition. With further improvements in XRF technology, it is expected that this technique will be of continued importance/utility in geological and geomorphological investigations.

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Chaohu lake and its surrounding have received considerable attention in terms of water and sediment pollution investigations. In this study, the trend of changes in four key land uses in the catchment area was examined. Maximum Likelihood Supervised Classification (MLC) in ESRI© ArcGIS was applied to subsets of Landsat MSS, TM, ETM and OLI/TIRS images of 1979 to 2015. The results showed that the water bodies' position remained relatively stable, while the portions of land used for urban activities and agriculture consistently increased. The built-up areas increased from 3.5% in 1979 to 25.1% in 2015. Similarly, the agricultural land use increased from the area coverage of 29.8% in 1979 to 45.2% in 2015. Forested/vegetated land of the catchment substantially decreased during this period, from 59.8% in 1979 to 22.9% in 2015. Decades of improper land use activities and resource utilisation have led to ecological degradation of the basin which has manifested in serious eutrophication of the lake. The conflict between the economic development and the need to protect the ecosystem of Chaohu catchment has now become a management issue. Deliberate planning should be made to reduce the rate of conversion of the forested land area to agriculture and urban use.