Sinkhole risk in Clinton County, KY: Sinkhole country

Sinkhole country

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

On soluble rock: 75%
At or near the surface: 75%
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 148 of Clinton County's 197 square miles on soluble rock, 148 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 9,183 residents (47 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 248 map points about 0.9 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 Clinton County

The closest county with no soluble rock mapped is Scott County, TN, about 41 miles southeast. 2 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

Pickett County, TN 12 mi south · 56% at surface
Cumberland County, KY 14 mi west · 36% at surface
Wayne County, KY 18 mi east · 75% at surface
Russell County, KY 19 mi north · 40% at surface
Clay County, TN 26 mi southwest · 39% at surface
Fentress County, TN 27 mi southeast · 15% at surface

The rock underneath

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Ste. Genevieve and St. Louis Limestones, undivided (limestone), Mississippian in age, covering about 47% of the county. Next is the Salem, Warsaw, and Harrodsburg Limestones, undivided at 16%.

Against the rest of Kentucky

Clinton County ranks 18 of 120 in Kentucky for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 94% of US counties on that measure.