geology

Brevard County’s southern barrier island — one of the least developed areas on Florida’s Atlantic coast — is a quaint, still pristine paradise to the few thousand people who settled in mostly bungalow-style homes, many of them escapees from Miami Beach, Fort Lauderdale and other places they say were over-developed. And it all seemed at risk just a few years ago.

Geologists rely on tiny crystals of the mineral zircon to understand the timing of key events in Earth's early days, like the rising of continents and the emergence of oceans.

Vacationers staying in central Florida awoke to crashing sounds Sunday night, as their three-story building began to collapse. A large portion of the structure at a resort in Clermont was pulled into a sinkhole. It seems the process was slow enough that everyone in the building got out safely.