Sinkhole risk in Bradley County, AR: 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: 12%
At or near the surface: 12%
Buried under cover: 0%

What this means before you buy

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

That works out to roughly 76 of Bradley County's 649 square miles on soluble rock, 76 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 9,935 residents (15 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 290 map points about 1.5 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Worth reading for this county: why gypsum and salt move faster than limestone, and how these percentages are measured.

Counties around Bradley County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Izard County, AR, about 182 miles north. None of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so Bradley County stands out from its surroundings.

Calhoun County, AR 21 mi west · 0% at surface
Drew County, AR 27 mi east · 18% at surface
Cleveland County, AR 30 mi north · 33% at surface
Ashley County, AR 30 mi southeast · under 1% at surface
Union County, AR 32 mi southwest · 0% at surface
Ouachita County, AR 42 mi west · 0% at surface

The rock underneath

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Jackson Group (mixed clastic/carbonate), Late Eocene in age, covering about 12% of the county.

The county also lies over the Gulf Coast salt domes, 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 Arkansas

Bradley County ranks 30 of 75 in Arkansas for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 69% of US counties on that measure.