Sinkhole risk in Brown County, KS: 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: 11%
At or near the surface: 0%
Buried under cover: 11%

What to do about a house in Brown County

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

That works out to roughly 61 of Brown County's 571 square miles on soluble rock. With about 9,142 residents (16 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 414 map points about 1.2 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Counties around Brown County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Johnson County, KS, about 76 miles southeast. 6 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Richardson County, NE 22 mi north · 0% at surface
Doniphan County, KS 23 mi east · 0% at surface
Nemaha County, KS 23 mi west · 0% at surface
Atchison County, KS 24 mi southeast · 0% at surface
Holt County, MO 26 mi northeast · 0% at surface
Jackson County, KS 31 mi southwest · 0% at surface

Which formation it is

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Admire Group (shale), Late Pennsylvanian in age, covering about 7% of the county. Next is the Council Grove Group at 4%.

Against the rest of Kansas

Brown County ranks 95 of 105 in Kansas for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 0% of US counties on that measure.