Sinkhole risk in Gove County, KS: Pockets of it

Pockets of it

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

On soluble rock: 23%
At or near the surface: 23%
Buried under cover: 0%

What this means before you buy

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 241 of Gove County's 1,072 square miles on soluble rock, 241 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 2,658 residents (2 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 400 map points about 1.6 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 the signs to look for and how an inspection works.

Counties around Gove County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Harlan County, NE, about 105 miles northeast. 4 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Sheridan County, KS 30 mi north · 15% at surface
Lane County, KS 30 mi south · 18% at surface
Trego County, KS 33 mi east · 57% at surface
Logan County, KS 36 mi west · 11% at surface
Scott County, KS 38 mi southwest · 7% at surface
Ness County, KS 43 mi southeast · 56% at surface

Which formation it is

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Niobrara Chalk (shale), Late Cretaceous in age, covering about 18% of the county. Next is the Ogallala Formation at 5%.

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

Gove County ranks 52 of 105 in Kansas for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 76% of US counties on that measure.