Sinkhole risk in Anne Arundel County, MD: Mostly deep or small

Mostly deep or small

Some soluble rock, mostly deeply buried or in a small share of the county.

On soluble rock: 15%
At or near the surface: 15%
Buried under cover: 0%

What to do about a house in Anne Arundel County

Sinkholes are uncommon here; watch for new depressions after heavy rain or leaking pipes.

That works out to roughly 61 of Anne Arundel County's 415 square miles on soluble rock, 61 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 602,350 residents (1,452 per square mile), most of the county is built up, so a mapped unit is likely to sit under somebody's street. The figures come from 541 map points about 0.9 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Counties around Anne Arundel County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Jefferson County, WV, about 73 miles west. 3 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

Prince George's County, MD 19 mi southwest · 22% at surface
Baltimore city, MD 21 mi north · 0% at surface
District of Columbia, DC 25 mi west · 1% at surface
Queen Anne's County, MD 26 mi east · 4% at surface
Howard County, MD 27 mi northwest · under 1% at surface
Talbot County, MD 27 mi southeast · 5% at surface

What Anne Arundel County is built on

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Chesapeake Group; Calvert Formation (sand), Miocene in age, covering about 15% of the county.

Against the rest of Maryland

Anne Arundel County ranks 5 of 24 in Maryland for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 71% of US counties on that measure.