Sinkhole risk in Finney County, KS: 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: 5%
At or near the surface: 5%
Buried under cover: 0%

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 65 of Finney County's 1,302 square miles on soluble rock, 65 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 38,354 residents (29 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 300 map points about 2.1 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Worth reading for this county: why gypsum and salt move faster than limestone, and how these percentages are measured.

Counties around Finney County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Clark County, KS, about 76 miles southeast. 3 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

Gray County, KS 26 mi southeast · under 1% at surface
Kearny County, KS 31 mi west · 2% at surface
Scott County, KS 31 mi north · 7% at surface
Lane County, KS 33 mi northeast · 18% at surface
Haskell County, KS 35 mi south · 0% at surface
Wichita County, KS 44 mi northwest · 13% at surface

Which formation it is

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Niobrara Chalk (shale), Late Cretaceous in age, covering about 5% of the county. Next is the Ogallala Formation at under 1%.

The county also lies over the Permian Basin, Anadarko Basin,Dalhart Basin, Palo Duro 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 Kansas

Finney County ranks 80 of 105 in Kansas for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 63% of US counties on that measure.