Sinkhole risk in Escambia 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: 62%
At or near the surface: 0%
Buried under cover: 62%

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 583 of Escambia County's 945 square miles on soluble rock. With about 36,630 residents (39 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 389 map points about 1.6 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Two things to read before deciding: why gypsum and salt move faster than limestone, and why the 62% under cover still counts.

Counties around Escambia County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Geneva County, AL, about 80 miles east. 2 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

Conecuh County, AL 24 mi northeast · 16% at surface
Santa Rosa County, FL 32 mi south · 0% at surface
Monroe County, AL 34 mi north · 12% at surface
Escambia County, FL 42 mi south · 0% at surface
Covington County, AL 43 mi east · 4% at surface
Baldwin County, AL 47 mi southwest · 0% at surface

What Escambia County is built on

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Oligocene Series undifferentiated (limestone), Oligocene in age, covering about 39% of the county.

The county also lies over the Gulf Coast salt domes, 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 Alabama

Escambia County ranks 58 of 67 in Alabama for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 0% of US counties on that measure.