Sinkhole risk in Cedar County, IA: 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: 100%
At or near the surface: 0%
Buried under cover: 100%

The next step for one property

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

That works out to roughly 578 of Cedar County's 579 square miles on soluble rock. With about 18,231 residents (31 per square mile), there is effectively nowhere in the county off the soluble rock, town or country. The figures come from 391 map points about 1.2 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Counties around Cedar County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Jo Daviess County, IL, about 62 miles northeast. 3 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

Muscatine County, IA 20 mi south · 0% at surface
Jones County, IA 24 mi north · 1% at surface
Johnson County, IA 25 mi west · 0% at surface
Scott County, IA 28 mi east · under 1% at surface
Linn County, IA 32 mi northwest · 0% at surface
Clinton County, IA 32 mi east · 1% at surface

What Cedar County is built on

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Niagaran Series (dolostone (dolomite)), Middle Silurian in age, covering about 75% of the county. Next is the Wapsipinicon Formation at 17%.

Against the rest of Iowa

Cedar County ranks 28 of 99 in Iowa for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 0% of US counties on that measure.