Sinkhole risk in Buckingham 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 to do about a house in Buckingham County
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 2 of Buckingham County's 580 square miles on soluble rock, 2 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 17,115 residents (30 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 568 map points about 1.0 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.
Read next: how these percentages are measured, and the warning signs that apply anywhere.
Counties around Buckingham County
The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Waynesboro city, VA, about 40 miles northwest, close enough that the same rock may run under the county line. 5 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.
- Cumberland County, VA 16 mi east · 0% at surface
- Appomattox County, VA 21 mi southwest · 2% at surface
- Fluvanna County, VA 22 mi northeast · 0% at surface
- Nelson County, VA 24 mi northwest · under 1% at surface
- Prince Edward County, VA 25 mi south · 0% at surface
- Albemarle County, VA 31 mi north · 0% at surface
Which formation it is
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. Next is the Candler Formation - Lmestone at under 1%.
Against the rest of Virginia
Buckingham County ranks 90 of 133 in Virginia for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 52% of US counties on that measure.
- Lexington city 100%
- Salem city 100%
- Roanoke city 98%
- Winchester city 90%
- Bristol city 89%