Sinkhole risk in Fulton County, PA: Pockets of it

Pockets of it

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

On soluble rock: 19%
At or near the surface: 19%
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 83 of Fulton County's 438 square miles on soluble rock, 83 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 14,452 residents (33 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 540 map points about 0.9 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Counties around Fulton County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Washington County, MD, about 27 miles southeast, close enough that the same rock may run under the county line. 4 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Bedford County, PA 21 mi west · 26% at surface
Franklin County, PA 21 mi east · 44% at surface
Morgan County, WV 25 mi south · 7% at surface
Washington County, MD 27 mi southeast · 61% at surface
Berkeley County, WV 32 mi south · 44% at surface
Huntingdon County, PA 36 mi north · 35% at surface

The rock underneath

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Mauch Chunk Formation (shale), Mississippian in age, covering about 7% of the county. Next is the Clinton Group at 2%.

Against the rest of Pennsylvania

Fulton County ranks 28 of 67 in Pennsylvania for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 74% of US counties on that measure.