SinkholeOdds

Sinkhole risk in Clinton County, PA: Pockets of it

Pockets of it

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

On soluble rock
21%
At or near the surface
21%
Buried under cover
0%

What this means before you buy

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 189 of Clinton County's 890 square miles on soluble rock, 189 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 37,865 residents (43 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 521 map points about 1.3 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Read next: why gypsum and salt move faster than limestone, and the signs to look for and how an inspection works.

Counties around Clinton County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Union County, PA, about 35 miles southeast, close enough that the same rock may run under the county line. 1 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 Mauch Chunk Formation (shale), Mississippian in age, covering about 12% of the county. Next is the Bellefonte Formation at 2%.

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 Pennsylvania

Clinton County ranks 27 of 67 in Pennsylvania for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 75% of US counties on that measure.