Sinkhole risk in Greenbrier County, WV: Pockets of it

Pockets of it

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

On soluble rock: 35%
At or near the surface: 35%
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 360 of Greenbrier County's 1,020 square miles on soluble rock, 360 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 31,851 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 516 map points about 1.4 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Two things to read before deciding: the signs to look for and how an inspection works, and how these percentages are measured.

Counties around Greenbrier County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Monroe County, WV, about 26 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.

Alleghany County, VA 26 mi east · 18% at surface
Monroe County, WV 26 mi south · 69% at surface
Covington city, VA 27 mi east · 26% at surface
Summers County, WV 29 mi southwest · 73% at surface
Nicholas County, WV 32 mi northwest · 0% at surface
Craig County, VA 33 mi south · 34% at surface

What Greenbrier County is built on

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Bluefield Formation (shale), Mississippian in age, covering about 14% of the county. Next is the Greenbrier Group at 14%.

Against the rest of West Virginia

Greenbrier County ranks 7 of 55 in West Virginia for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 82% of US counties on that measure.