Sinkhole risk in Carbon County, PA: 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 Carbon 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 Carbon County's 381 square miles on soluble rock, 2 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 65,743 residents (172 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 523 map points about 0.9 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 Carbon County
The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Union County, PA, about 71 miles west. 1 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.
- Monroe County, PA 22 mi northeast · under 1% at surface
- Lehigh County, PA 22 mi south · 29% at surface
- Luzerne County, PA 23 mi northwest · 0% at surface
- Northampton County, PA 24 mi southeast · 33% at surface
- Schuylkill County, PA 31 mi southwest · 2% at surface
- Lackawanna County, PA 36 mi north · 0% at surface
Which formation it is
The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Decker Formation through Poxono Island Formation, undivided (sandstone), Silurian in age, covering about under 1% of the county. Next is the Buttermilk Falls Limestone through Esopus Formation, undivided at under 1%.
Against the rest of Pennsylvania
Carbon County ranks 47 of 67 in Pennsylvania for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 53% of US counties on that measure.
- Union County 53%
- Cumberland County 48%
- Lancaster County 46%
- Juniata County 45%
- Mifflin County 45%