Sinkhole risk in Amherst County, VA: No soluble rock mapped

No soluble rock mapped

No soluble bedrock mapped.

On soluble rock: under 1%
At or near the surface: under 1%
Buried under cover: 0%

What this means before you buy

No soluble bedrock is mapped here, so natural sinkholes are unlikely. Collapses from broken pipes or old mines are a separate risk.

That works out to roughly 3 of Amherst County's 474 square miles on soluble rock, 3 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 31,650 residents (67 per square mile), homes are spread across towns and farmland, and a mapped unit may or may not reach the developed parts. The figures come from 535 map points about 0.9 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Worth reading for this county: how these percentages are measured, and the warning signs that apply anywhere.

Counties around Amherst County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Buena Vista city, VA, about 13 miles northwest, close enough that the same rock may run under the county line. 2 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

Buena Vista city, VA 13 mi northwest · 75% at surface
Lynchburg city, VA 16 mi south · under 1% at surface
Nelson County, VA 18 mi northeast · under 1% at surface
Lexington city, VA 19 mi northwest · 100% at surface
Rockbridge County, VA 20 mi northwest · 57% at surface
Appomattox County, VA 26 mi southeast · 2% at surface

What Amherst County is built on

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Alligator Back Formation - Banded marble (marble), Proterozoic Z-Cambrian in age, covering about under 1% of the county.

Against the rest of Virginia

Amherst County ranks 86 of 133 in Virginia for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 54% of US counties on that measure.