Sinkhole risk in Belmont County, OH: Pockets of it

Pockets of it

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

On soluble rock: 20%
At or near the surface: 20%
Buried under cover: 0%

What to do about a house in Belmont 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 109 of Belmont County's 532 square miles on soluble rock, 109 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 64,692 residents (122 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 339 map points about 1.3 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Two things to read before deciding: why gypsum and salt move faster than limestone, and the signs to look for and how an inspection works.

Counties around Belmont County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Harrisonburg city, VA, about 157 miles southeast. 3 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

Ohio County, WV 19 mi east · 22% at surface
Marshall County, WV 19 mi southeast · 4% at surface
Harrison County, OH 20 mi north · 24% at surface
Monroe County, OH 21 mi south · 0% at surface
Brooke County, WV 27 mi northeast · 38% at surface
Guernsey County, OH 28 mi west · 0% at surface

Which formation it is

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Monongahela Group (shale), Pennsylvanian in age, covering about 20% of the county.

The county also lies over the Michigan Basin; Ohio Basin; Appalachian Basin, a deep salt or gypsum basin. Deep beds rarely cause surface collapse on their own, but wells and mining into them have.

Against the rest of Ohio

Belmont County ranks 4 of 88 in Ohio for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 75% of US counties on that measure.