Sinkhole risk in Ford 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: 3%
At or near the surface: 3%
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 32 of Ford County's 1,098 square miles on soluble rock, 32 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 34,072 residents (31 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 385 map points about 1.7 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 how these percentages are measured.

Counties around Ford County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Clark County, KS, about 32 miles south, close enough that the same rock may run under the county line. 3 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

Hodgeman County, KS 28 mi north · 42% at surface
Gray County, KS 31 mi west · under 1% at surface
Clark County, KS 32 mi south · 37% at surface
Kiowa County, KS 34 mi east · 2% at surface
Edwards County, KS 34 mi northeast · 2% at surface
Meade County, KS 40 mi southwest · 15% at surface

The rock underneath

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Greenhorn Limestone and Graneros Shale (limestone), Late Cretaceous in age, covering about 2% of the county. Next is the Ogallala Formation at 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

Ford County ranks 84 of 105 in Kansas for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 60% of US counties on that measure.