SinkholeOdds

Sinkhole risk in Dickey County, ND: 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
34%
At or near the surface
0%
Buried under cover
34%

What this means before you buy

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

That works out to roughly 388 of Dickey County's 1,131 square miles on soluble rock. With about 4,930 residents (4 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 408 map points about 1.7 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Worth reading for this county: why the 34% under cover still counts, and how these percentages are measured.

Counties around Dickey County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Boyd County, NE, about 222 miles south. 4 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Which formation it is

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Niobrara and Carlile Formations, Undivided (limestone), Cretaceous in age, covering about 34% of the county.

Against the rest of North Dakota

Dickey County ranks 15 of 53 in North Dakota for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 0% of US counties on that measure.