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Pattern of cracks in dried mud. This photograph was taken on a site in Ecuador which had been part of the Amazonian rainforest until it's selection as a candidate for a possible oil well. The trees were cleared to make way for an exploratory drilling rig, called Tigrillo 1, operated by British Gas. Such deforestation removes the protection afforded to the soil by an overhead canopy of branches and by the binding effect due to a network of roots, leaving it open to erosion. (KEYSTONE/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY/DR MORLEY READ)