in the present invention , environmentally friendly or benign compositions are formed that can , for example , be used to change the permeability characteristics of subterranean or underground formations ( for example , in the recovery of oil and / or other hydrocarbons ). in several embodiment of the present invention , when individual polymer chains of the compositions of the present invention interact , chemical or physical crosslinking may occur . this crosslinking results in a three - dimensional highly branched network of polymers . when these networks become swollen with water ( that is , either fresh / deionized water of brine ) they form hydrophilic gels . the present inventors have discovered that water soluble polymers having primary and / or secondary amine groups form networked gels in the presence of a reducing saccharide such as a reducing sugar . reducing sugars are sometimes referred to herein simply as sugars . similar networked or crosslinked polymers gelled in fresh water for use in strengthening paper are discussed in u . s . patent application ser . no . 10 / 252 , 262 , filed sep . 23 , 2002 , the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference . surprisingly , it has been discovered that networked gels formed from compositions including polymers having primary and / or secondary amine groups and a reducing saccharide are quite stable in harsh environments such as experienced in subterranean hydrocarbon recovery which may include , for example , seawater , brackish water or brine ( that is , water of high salinity or salt content ) and temperatures in excess of 90 ° c . several representative examples of the present invention are described using compositions including polymers with vinyl amine repeat groups and at least one of several reducing sugars . vinyl amine homopolymer was found to form relatively stable networked gels in the presence of a reducing sugar in both deionized water and water having high salinity / salt content ( simulated seawater ). in the studies of the present invention in water having high salinity / salt content , simulated seawater was prepared using procedures similar to those set forth in astm standard d 1141 - 98 , standard procedure for the preparation of substitute ocean water , the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference . use of simulated seawater in the gelation studies of the present invention was found to have little , if any , effect upon gelation results as compared to studies carried out with deionized water . copolymers of vinyl amine and at least one other monomer were also found to form networked gels in the presence of a reducing sugar . in many instances , use of a copolymer of vinyl amine and at least one other monomer is preferable to use of a vinyl amine homopolymer in the present invention given the expense of the vinyl amine monomer . in a number of studies of the present invention , representative copolymers of vinyl amine and vinyl alcohol were used . such copolymers are also sometimes referred to herein as poly ( vinylalcohol )/ poly ( vinylamine ) or pvoh / pvam copolymers . aqueous solutions ( including either fresh / deionized water or simulated sweater ) of poly ( vinylalcohol )/ poly ( vinylamine ) copolymer and a number of sugars were found to gel readily at temperatures between , for example , approximately 50 and 100 ° c . in a series of initial experiments , known amounts of sugars were mixed with a copolymer of vinyl amine and vinyl alcohol ( 12 wt % vinyl amine ) to form a 40 % solution ( in water ) by weight . the mixtures were heated to various temperatures and held for varying lengths of time . relation was determined to be the point where a teflon stir bar ceased to move . vinyl amine is required for gelation to occur . in that regard , homopolymers of vinyl alcohol did not gel in the presence of sugar at elevated temperature . homopolymers of vinyl amine or copolymers of vinyl amine and vinyl alcohol gelled readily under these conditions . reducing saccharide ( for example , sugar ) is also required for gelation — vinyl amine homopolymers and copolymers of vinyl amine and vinyl alcohol did not gel without the presence of sugar . gelation occurs over a wide range of amine : sugar ( saccharide ) ratios . gelation occurred in the presence of 2 - deoxy - d - ribose , suggesting that the osazone mechanism was not responsible for crosslinking . on the other hand , gelation did not occur when using sucrose , suggesting that maillard chemistry ( known from food chemistry ) is involved in the crosslinking and hence gelation . prior studies suggest that no mutagenicity results from products of the maillard reaction when disaccharides are employed . lactose , for example , allows for gelation in the compositions and systems of the present invention . although it is believed that the maillard chemistry is involved in gelation in the compositions of the present invention , the present invention is not limited to any particular mechanism of gelation . increasing temperature increases the rate of the reaction / gelation . in several experiments with a 12 % ( wt ) amine sample , for example , the time for gelation dropped with increasing temperature from 335 minutes ( 50 ° c .) to 113 minutes ( 60 ° c .) to 50 minutes ( 70 ° c .) to 24 minutes ( 80 ° c .) to less than 10 minutes at ( 90 ° c .). fig1 illustrates graphically the effect of increasing temperature on gel time for a copolymer of vinyl amine and vinyl alcohol having 6 % ( wt ) vinyl amine . addition of acid ( for example , h 2 so 4 ) slowed the gelation reaction , while addition of a base ( for example , naoh ) accelerated the gelation reaction ( see fig2 ). fig3 and 4 illustrate studies of the effect of mole ratio of sugar to copolymer ( 6 % by weight amine ) for d - glucose and lactose , respectively . in general , sugar concentration only slightly effected gel time . moreover , the type of sugar used did not greatly affect gelation time . lactose was found to be slightly better than d - glucose in these studies . the gelation of several other hydrophilic polymers and copolymers was studied in deionized water and in synthetic seawater . for example , poly ( diallyl dimethyl ammonium chloride ) [ dadmac ] homopolymers were studied . the polydadmac materials , for example , gelled in deionized water and in seawater at 90 ° c . and 1 : 1 sugar : polydadmac ratio under basic conditions . these gels were associative in nature , crosslinking though ionic interactions rather than through covalent crosslinking bonds . the gelation of the polydadmac compositions was reversible . upon addition of aqueous acid , for example , polydadmac gels rapidly fell apart ( dissolved ). the pvoh - pva gels discussed above are , in comparison , permanent in nature ( that is , the pvoh / pva gels comprise covalent crosslinks ). compositions of the present invention including copolymers of dadmac and acrylamide , diallyl amine , and allyl amine ( all in 90 : 10 dadmac / comonomer ratio ) were also evaluated in deionized water and in simulated seawater ( at 90 ° c . and 1 : 1 sugar : copolymer ratio under basic conditions ). each of the compositions appeared to have gelled . the compositions gelled more slowly than the pva - pvoh copolymers discussed above . upon gelation , the dadmac / acrylamide composition became very viscous or gooey . the dadmac / acrylamide starting material , however , was quite viscous , and gelation was thus difficult to determine . the dadmac / diallyl amine composition became somewhat more viscous than the dadmac / acrylamide composition . the dadmac / allyl amine formed a stiff gel ( similar in properties to that formed with the pvoh - pva copolymers ). the monomer structures and associated polymer repeat units of the dadmac homopolymer and copolymers are set forth in table 1 . several of the properties of the copolymers studied are set forth in table 2 . the concentration of dadmac in the copolymer backbone was maintained relatively high to increase the solubility of the copolymers in water . materials . all chemicals were used without further purification . poly ( vinylalcohol ) ( 98 - 99 %, m w 31 , 000 - 50 , 000 ), d - glucose ( a . c . s . reagent ) and 2 - deoxy - d - ribose ( 97 %) were purchased from aldrich chemical co . sucrose ( a . c . s . reagent ) was purchased from j . t . baker chemical . lactose ( a . c . s . reagent ) was purchased from e . m . science . l - ribose ( 99 . 5 %) was purchased from acros organics . the poly ( vinylalcohol )/ poly ( vinylamine ) copolymers ( 6 and 12 % amine , medium m w ) were donated by air products . instrumentation . infrared spectra ( ir ) were obtained on an ati mattson ftir spectrometer . information obtained was used to determine chemical changes occurring during gelation . synthesis of poly ( vinylamine ). poly ( vinylamine ) was synthesized using n - vinyl formamide ( nvf ). first poly ( vinylformamide ) ( pnvf ) was made by combining 100 ml of the nvf monomer , 40 ml of dmso solvent , 61 mg vazo 88 initiator ( cyclohexane carbonitrile ), and 0 . 5 g raft agent in a three - neck flask . the mixture was then heated at 100 ° c . for ˜ 2 hours under nitrogen gas with constant stirring and with reflux conditions . after heating , the product was diluted in a 50 ml / 50 ml water / ethanol mixture . the product was then precipitated out of solution using acetone . product was dried overnight in a vacuum oven , redisolved in a 120 ml / 50 ml water / ethanol mixture and subsequently precipitated using acetone . the pnvf was hydrolyzed under basic conditions by combining the polymer , concentrated naoh ( 5 % excess ) and distilled deionized water in a round bottom flask . the mixture was then heated at 80 ° c . for 18 hours , under reflux conditions and with constant stirring . adding hcl to the cold product solution precipitated the product . the product was then washed with methanol three times and dried in a vacuum oven . hcl was removed by adding aqueous naoh . this product was precipitated in acetone , dried and then washed with butanol . an aqueous solution was prepared by dissolving 7 . 5 g d - glucose and 2 . 5 g poly ( vinylalcohol ) ( pvoh ) into distilled , deionized water in a 25 ml volumetric flask . the solution was clear with some undissolved polymer . it was , however , pourable . the solution was transferred to a round bottom flask and heated to 80 ° c . in an oil bath . heating was done with constant stirring and under reflux conditions . upon completion the solution remained clear with all polymer dissolved and was still pourable . prior studies suggest that an aqueous solution of pvoh and d - glucose could be used to form hydrogels by using freezing / thawing cycles . see yamaura , k . ; fukada , m . ; tanaka , t . ; tanigami , t . j . of applied polymer science . 1999 , 74 , 1298 - 1303 . to study this effect , a solution was prepared as in example 1 . heating was carried out using the same procedure as in example 1 , but was allowed to reach a temperature of 90 ° c . the aqueous solution was then placed in a − 10 ° c . freezer over 48 hours . after thawing the solution at room temperature for 1 hour a weak , white hydrogel had formed . the gel was then placed back in the freezer for 24 hours and then thawed at room temperature for 1 hour . after which , the gel appeared visibly stronger . this gel was found to be soluble in water heated up to 49 ° c . neither swelling nor dissolution was noted when placed in 1m hcl . prior studies further suggest that d - glucose was not necessary for the gelation of poly ( vinylalcohol ) using the process in example 2 . see yamaura , k . ; karasawa , k . i . ; tanigami , t . ; matsuzawa , s . j . of applied polymer science . 1994 , 51 , 2041 - 2046 . to study such gelation , a 2 . 5 g of pvoh was dissolved in distilled , deionized water in a 25 ml volumetric flask . heating was carried out using the same procedure as in example 1 , but was allowed to reach a temperature of 95 ° c . the solution was then placed in the freezer at − 25 ° c . for 48 hours . after 1 hour of thawing at room temperature a gel , similar in appearance to the gel in example 2 , was produced . the inability of pvoh to form hydrogels without the freezing / thawing cycle indicated that the amine groups on copolymers of pvoh and poly ( vinylamine ) in the compositions of the present invention are responsible for gelation . poly ( vinylamine ) ( pva ) was also used in trying to make gels . an excess of pva was used in the case that some butanol was still present in the synthesized polymer . 2 . 8 g of pva was dissolved in distilled , deionized water in 25 ml volumetric glassware leaving room for the addition of d - glucose and more water . a heating gun was used , as needed , to dissolve polymer . d - glucose was dissolved in some water in a separate container , added to the other solution and diluted as necessary . this solution was orange in color and pourable . heating was carried out using the same procedure as in example 1 , but was allowed to reach a temperature of 100 ° c . a rubbery , dark brown gel began to appear at ˜ 95 ° c . this gel swelled when exposed to both excess water and 1m hcl . to ensure that the discoloration observed in example 4 was a result of gelation and not merely oxidation of the amine , example 4 was repeated under nitrogen gas . this was done using a three neck flask , rubber septum and needle . the rubbery , dark brown gel appeared at ˜ 93 ° c . again . this gel was slightly lighter in color than the gel of example 5 . this gel swelled in water and in 1m hcl . to study whether a sugar was necessary for gelation , 1 . 25 g of pva was dissolved in water in a 25 ml volumetric flask . this solution was then heated to 95 ° c . using the procedure of example 1 . no gelation was observed . the poly ( vinylalcohol )/ poly ( vinylamine ) copolymer that was used for the experiments set forth in examples 7 through 24 contained 12 % amine groups . 2 . 5 g of the copolymer followed by 7 . 5 g of d - glucose were dissolved in distilled deionized water using the procedure outlined in example 4 . this solution was then transferred to a three - neck flask and heated in an oil bath to 100 ° c . heating was carried out under reflux conditions , with constant stirring and under argon gas . a strong , bright yellow gel appeared at ˜ 90 ° c . this gel swelled when exposed to excess water and to 1m hcl . the procedure in example 7 was repeated using 2 . 5 g d - glucose . this is a 1 : 2 mole ratio of amine groups to sugar molecules . gelation began to occur at ˜ 90 ° c . this gel was strong and yellow . it swelled in water and 1m hcl . the procedure of example 7 was repeated using 1 . 25 g d - glucose ( a 1 : 1 mole ratio of amine groups to sugar molecules ). gelation began to occur at ˜ 90 ° c . this gel was a pale yellow color . this gel is still strong but not as strong as the previous two examples . swelling was noted in water and 1m hcl . ir spectra were taken of the aqueous solution before heating and of this gel afterwards . before heating a strong peak was seen around 1680 cm − 1 , which is typical of a primary amine peak . after heating this peak became much smaller , more typical of a secondary amine . another unidentified peak appeared after heating at ˜ 1090 cm − 1 . the procedure of example 7 was repeated using 0 . 61 g d - glucose ( a 2 : 1 mole ratio of amine groups to sugar molecules ). gelation began to occur at ˜ 95 ° c . this gel was strong yet somewhat sticky and a clear yellow color . swelling was noted when exposed to water and to 1m hcl . the procedure of example 7 was repeated using 0 . 31 g d - glucose ( a 4 : 1 mole ratio of amine groups to sugar molecules ). gelation began to occur at ˜ 100 ° c . the gel produced was sticky and almost clear in color . this gel swelled when exposed to excess water and to 1m hcl . the procedure of example 7 was repeated using 0 . 16 g d - glucose ( a 8 : 1 mole ratio of amine groups to sugar molecules ). gelation began to occur at ˜ 100 ° c . this gel was sticky and clear . swelling occurred when exposed to water and to 1m hcl . to test for the possibility of an osazone mechanism l - ribose was used instead of d - glucose . the procedure followed was similar to that of example 9 ( using a 1 : 1 mole ratio and the same conditions ). 1 . 02 g of l - ribose was used . gelation occurred at ˜ 85 ° c . this gel was strong , sticky and bright orange in color . this gel swelled when exposed to excess water and to 1m hcl . as part of the aforementioned test of reaction mechanism 2 - deoxy - d - ribose was also used instead of d - glucose . the procedure of example 9 was once again followed , this time using 0 . 91 g of 2 - deoxy - d - ribose . gelation occurred at ˜ 85 ° c . this gel was also strong and bright orange . the gelation of 2 - deoxy - d - ribose indicates that the osazone reaction is not taking place since it would be unable to occur as a result of the structure of this sugar . without limitation to any particular reaction mechanism in the present invention , a maillard reaction mechanism is thus indicated . the gel of this example swelled when exposed to excess water and to 1m hcl . prior studies show that little or no mutagenicity results from the maillard reaction when disaccharides , such as lactose , are involved . see , for example , brands , c . m . j . ; alink , g . m . ; vanboekel , m . a . j . s . ; jongen , w . m . f . j . agric . food chem . 2000 , 48 , 2271 - 2275 . a summary of the maillard reaction is provided in fig6 . thus lactose is a good sugar for use in the present invention . the procedure of example 9 was used , with 2 . 45 g of lactose . a strong , orange gel formed at ˜ 100 ° c . solubility tests were not carried out on this gel . sucrose is a disaccharide lacking active carbonyl groups . therefore , sucrose would not be able to form a gel via the maillard reaction . see baynes , j . w . ; monnier , v . m . “ the maillard reaction in aging , diabetes and nutrition ” 1989 ; and o &# 39 ; brien , j . ; nursten , h . e . ; crabbe , m . j . c . ; ames , j . m . “ the maillard reaction in foods and medicine ” 1998 . the procedure from example 9 was once again repeated . in this example , time 2 . 33 g of sucrose was used . the temperature was taken up to 115 ° c . and gelation was not observed . constant temperature experiments were also carried out . 2 . 5 g of copolymer followed by 1 . 25 g of d - glucose were dissolved in water using a 25 ml volumetric flask as outlined in example 4 . heating took place in an oil bath that was maintained at a constant temperature of 80 ° c . heating was done under reflux conditions , under argon gas and with constant stirring . gelation time was noted as the time when the gel became too viscous for the stir bar to move . in this example gelation time was found to be 23 . 5 minutes . the gel produced was a clear yellow and sticky . this gel dissolved in water . the procedure of example 17 was repeated using an oil bath at 70 ° c . gelation time was noted as 49 . 5 minutes . this gel was weaker and stickier than the previous one . this gel also dissolved in water . the procedure of example 17 was repeated using an oil bath at 60 ° c . gelation time was noted as 113 . 25 minutes . this gel was weaker and stickier than the previous one . this gel also dissolved in water . the procedure of example 17 was repeated using an oil bath at 50 ° c . gelation time was noted as 335 . 0 minutes . this gel was weaker and stickier than the previous one . this gel also dissolved in water . to test the effect of ph on gelation , the procedure of example 17 was repeated under acidic conditions . three drops of concentrated h 2 so 4 were added to the aqueous solution . after 120 . 0 minutes the solution had turned slightly yellow and appeared to be a pourable gel . this gel was also soluble in water . basic conditions were also examined using the procedure in example 17 . 0 . 04 g of concentrated naoh were added to the aqueous solution . gelation was noted after 18 . 2 minutes . this gel was similar in appearance to that produced in example 17 . this gel was slightly soluble in excess water . the gels studied in fig1 through 5 were synthesized in a consistent manner . in that regard , 21 . 25 grams of copolymer was weighed out into a beaker and set aside for both 6 wt % and 12 wt % amine copolymers . the sugar was also weighed out in a beaker and set aside . the amount of sugar added depended on the mole ratio of sugar to amine , which is indicated in table 3 below for each ratio . water ( deionized water or simulated seawater ) was measured out in a tall form beaker to approximately 425 ml . a small amount (˜ ¼ ) of this water was put into another tall form beaker and the sugar was added and mixed thoroughly . the bulk of the water was used to mix with the copolymer . the mixture of copolymer / water was then put into an oil bath and mixed to allow the copolymer to dissolve . next , the sugar / water mixture was added into the copolymer mixture and the time was started . the ul adapter was then lowered into the mixture and the brookfield viscometer was turned on to a speed of 60 ( the brookfield viscometer had been earlier calibrated with water ). the readings form the brookfield were not recorded until after the time had reached 9 minutes to allow the ul adapter to settle . the time was then recorded after each minute . the only other change in procedure occurred when the naoh was added [ 50 % ( w / w /) naoh in water solution ]. 31 mm of naoh ( or 1 gram of the naoh in water solution ) was added into the sugar / water mixture before adding it to the copolymer mixture . synthetic or simulated seawater was prepared with reference to astm standard d 1141 - 98 standard practice of the preparation of substitute ocean water . unlike the solution prepared in the astm standard , the synthetic seawater used in the studies of the present invention was not prepared by mixing of separate stock solutions , but by direct mixing of the items listed in table 4 to achieve the approximate concentrations set forth in table 4 . the minor component compounds h 3 bo 3 , srcl 2 and naf of the astm standard ( having concentrations of 0 . 027 g / l , 0 . 025 g / l and 0 . 003 g / l in the astm standard ) were not added . astm standard d 1141 - 98 ( 2003 ) indicates the chlorinity of the resultant synthetic ocean or seawater to be 19 . 38 ppt , which is approximately equivalent to a salinity of 35 . 01 ppt ( using the equation s = 1 . 80655 cl ). in a representative example of synthetic procedure of a poly ( diallyl dimethyl ammonium chloride ) ( dadmac )/ allyl amine copolymer of the present studies , the reaction was carried out in a 1 l , four - necked resin pot equipped with a mechanical stirrer , a thermometer , a condenser , a purge tube and a heat regulator . approximately 492 g of a 55 % aqueous monomer solution including 75 wt % dadmac and 25 wt % allyl amine was added to the reaction vessel and stirring commenced . the ph was then adjusted to approximately 6 . 0 by addition of dilute hcl . the resultant reaction mixture was heated to 50 ° c . and purged with nitrogen for 1 hour . subsequently 500 ppm of sodium edta ( based upon the weight of the reaction mixture ) was added , followed by addition of 1 . 5 × 10 − 2 mole t - butly peroxypivalate per mole of monomer . the temperature of the reaction mixture was maintained at 50 ° c . for 10 hours . poly ( diallyl dimethyl ammonium chloride ) ( dadmac ) homopolymers at 5 wt % were gelled in seawater at 90 ° c . and 1 : 1 sugar : dadmac under basic conditions . gelation was observed . upon addition of aqueous acid the gels rapidly fell apart ( dissolved ), indicating that the gels were associative in nature . several experiments were performed to observe the crosslinking reaction of diallyl dimethyl ammonium chloride / acrylamide copolymer , diallyl dimethyl ammonium chloride / diallyl amine copolymer , and diallyl dimethyl ammonium chloride / allyl results from products of the maillard reaction when disaccharides are employed . lactose , for results from products of the maillard reaction when disaccharides are employed . lactose , for amine copolymer at 5 wt % in seawater at 90 ° c . and at a 1 : 1 sugar : copolymer ratio . the allyl amine co - polymer , for example , resulted in a relatively stiff polymer network . addition of water to the polymer network resulted in gelation / expansion to well over 500 % the original volume . the resultant gel was a very viscous monolithic type gel . the polymer was subsequently heated to remove the seawater , followed by addition of more seawater to determine if the process of expansion was repeatable . these studies indicated that the gel was able to be “ expanded ” and “ compressed ” multiple times . the foregoing description and accompanying drawings set forth preferred embodiments of the invention at the present time . various modifications , additions and alternative designs will , of course , become apparent to those skilled in the art in light of the foregoing teachings without departing from the scope of the invention . the scope of the invention is indicated by the following claims rather than by the foregoing description . all changes and variations that fall within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within their scope .