Sinkhole risk in Adair County, KY: Pockets of it

Pockets of it

Soluble rock at the surface or under thin cover in part of the county.

On soluble rock: 39%
At or near the surface: 39%
Buried under cover: 0%

What to do about a house in Adair County

Check the parcel against your state survey sinkhole map, and ask for an inspection if cracks, depressions or sticking doors show up.

That works out to roughly 159 of Adair County's 405 square miles on soluble rock, 159 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 19,239 residents (47 per square mile), much of the land is open, and the mapped rock may sit far from where people actually live. The figures come from 591 map points about 0.8 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Two things to read before deciding: the signs to look for and how an inspection works, and how these percentages are measured.

Counties around Adair County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Green County, KY, about 18 miles northwest, close enough that the same rock may run under the county line. 4 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Russell County, KY 15 mi southeast · 40% at surface
Taylor County, KY 18 mi north · 49% at surface
Green County, KY 18 mi northwest · 88% at surface
Metcalfe County, KY 21 mi west · 57% at surface
Cumberland County, KY 23 mi south · 36% at surface
Casey County, KY 25 mi northeast · 24% at surface

The rock underneath

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Salem, Warsaw, and Harrodsburg Limestones, undivided (limestone), Mississippian in age, covering about 21% of the county. Next is the Limestone bodies in the Fort Payne Formation at 17%.

Against the rest of Kentucky

Adair County ranks 55 of 120 in Kentucky for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 84% of US counties on that measure.