Sinkhole risk in Catoosa County, GA: Sinkhole country

Sinkhole country

Soluble rock at or near the surface across much of the county.

On soluble rock: 63%
At or near the surface: 63%
Buried under cover: 0%

What this means before you buy

Get a sinkhole or geotechnical inspection before buying, building or adding weight to a foundation.

That works out to roughly 102 of Catoosa County's 162 square miles on soluble rock, 102 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 68,940 residents (425 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 273 map points about 0.8 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Worth reading for this county: the signs to look for and how an inspection works, and how these percentages are measured.

Counties around Catoosa County

The closest county with no soluble rock mapped is Gilmer County, GA, about 41 miles east. 4 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Whitfield County, GA 12 mi southeast · 74% at surface
Walker County, GA 15 mi southwest · 66% at surface
Hamilton County, TN 18 mi north · 70% at surface
Dade County, GA 21 mi west · 39% at surface
Bradley County, TN 24 mi northeast · 89% at surface
Murray County, GA 24 mi east · 30% at surface

Which formation it is

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Knox Group undifferentiated (dolostone (dolomite)), Ordovician-Cambrian in age, covering about 26% of the county. Next is the Chickamauga Group undivided at 15%.

Against the rest of Georgia

Catoosa County ranks 14 of 159 in Georgia for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 91% of US counties on that measure.