Sinkhole risk in Fentress County, TN: Pockets of it

Pockets of it

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

On soluble rock: 15%
At or near the surface: 15%
Buried under cover: 0%

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 76 of Fentress County's 499 square miles on soluble rock, 76 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 20,129 residents (40 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 256 map points about 1.4 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Counties around Fentress County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Pickett County, TN, about 15 miles northwest, close enough that the same rock may run under the county line. None of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so Fentress County stands out from its surroundings.

Pickett County, TN 15 mi northwest · 56% at surface
Overton County, TN 19 mi west · 66% at surface
Morgan County, TN 23 mi southeast · under 1% at surface
Scott County, TN 24 mi east · 0% at surface
Clinton County, KY 27 mi northwest · 75% at surface
Cumberland County, TN 29 mi south · 3% at surface

Which formation it is

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the St. Louis Limestone and Warsaw Limestone (limestone), Mississippian in age, covering about 7% of the county. Next is the Monteagle Limestone at 4%.

Against the rest of Tennessee

Fentress County ranks 70 of 95 in Tennessee for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 72% of US counties on that measure.