Sinkhole risk in Crenshaw County, AL: Pockets of it

Pockets of it

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

On soluble rock: 30%
At or near the surface: 30%
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 182 of Crenshaw County's 609 square miles on soluble rock, 182 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 13,114 residents (22 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 274 map points about 1.5 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 Crenshaw County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Geneva County, AL, about 53 miles southeast. 5 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Butler County, AL 21 mi west · 25% at surface
Pike County, AL 23 mi east · 31% at surface
Coffee County, AL 30 mi southeast · 2% at surface
Montgomery County, AL 33 mi north · 49% at surface
Covington County, AL 34 mi south · 4% at surface
Lowndes County, AL 35 mi northwest · 49% at surface

The rock underneath

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Midway Group; Porters Creek Formation (clay or mud), Paleocene in age, covering about 17% of the county. Next is the Midway Group; Clayton Formation at 12%.

Against the rest of Alabama

Crenshaw County ranks 23 of 67 in Alabama for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 79% of US counties on that measure.