SinkholeOdds

Sinkhole risk in Cayuga County, NY: 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
33%
At or near the surface
under 1%
Buried under cover
33%

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 228 of Cayuga County's 692 square miles on soluble rock, 2 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 74,567 residents (108 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 579 map points about 1.1 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 why the 33% under cover still counts.

Counties around Cayuga County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Union County, PA, about 144 miles south. 3 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

The rock underneath

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Vernon Formation (shale), Upper Silurian in age, covering about 14% of the county. Next is the Camillus and Syracuse Formations at 9%.

The county also lies over the Michigan Basin; Ohio Basin; Appalachian Basin, 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 New York

Cayuga County ranks 4 of 62 in New York for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 51% of US counties on that measure.