Sinkhole risk in Chase County, KS: Pockets of it

Pockets of it

Soluble rock at the surface or under thin cover in part of the county.

On soluble rock: 87%
At or near the surface: 87%
Buried under cover: 0%

The next step for one property

Check the parcel against your state survey sinkhole map, and ask for an inspection if cracks, depressions or sticking doors show up.

That works out to roughly 669 of Chase County's 773 square miles on soluble rock, 669 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 2,507 residents (3 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 395 map points about 1.4 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Counties around Chase County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Marion County, KS, about 28 miles west, close enough that the same rock may run under the county line. 4 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Lyon County, KS 26 mi northeast · 39% at surface
Morris County, KS 27 mi north · 91% at surface
Marion County, KS 28 mi west · 80% at surface
Greenwood County, KS 35 mi southeast · 55% at surface
Butler County, KS 39 mi south · 93% at surface
Coffey County, KS 47 mi east · 53% at surface

What Chase County is built on

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Chase Group (shale), Early Permian - Gearyan in age, covering about 50% of the county. Next is the Council Grove Group at 33%.

Against the rest of Kansas

Chase County ranks 5 of 105 in Kansas for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 96% of US counties on that measure.