Sinkhole risk in Gosper County, NE: No soluble rock mapped

What this means before you buy

No soluble bedrock is mapped here, so natural sinkholes are unlikely. Collapses from broken pipes or old mines are a separate risk.

That works out to roughly 3 of Gosper County's 458 square miles on soluble rock, 3 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 1,808 residents (4 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 327 map points about 1.2 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Worth reading for this county: how these percentages are measured, and the warning signs that apply anywhere.

Counties around Gosper County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Harlan County, NE, about 32 miles southeast, 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.

• Phelps County, NE 22 mi east · 0% at surface
• Furnas County, NE 22 mi south · 32% at surface
• Dawson County, NE 25 mi north · 0% at surface
• Frontier County, NE 31 mi west · under 1% at surface
• Harlan County, NE 32 mi southeast · 37% at surface
• Red Willow County, NE 41 mi southwest · 16% at surface

Which formation it is

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Niobrara Formation (limestone), Late Cretaceous in age, covering about under 1% of the county.

Against the rest of Nebraska

Gosper County ranks 33 of 93 in Nebraska for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 53% of US counties on that measure.

• Hamilton County 80%
• Adams County 79%
• Merrick County 79%
• Webster County 78%
• Franklin County 78%