Sinkhole risk in Greene County, AL: Pockets of it

Pockets of it

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

On soluble rock: 18%
At or near the surface: 18%
Buried under cover: 0%

What to do about a house in Greene County

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 115 of Greene County's 647 square miles on soluble rock, 115 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 7,127 residents (11 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 539 map points about 1.1 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Worth reading for this county: the signs to look for and how an inspection works, and how these percentages are measured.

Counties around Greene County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Noxubee County, MS, about 39 miles northwest, 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.

Hale County, AL 21 mi east · 20% at surface
Sumter County, AL 22 mi southwest · 46% at surface
Pickens County, AL 32 mi north · 4% at surface
Kemper County, MS 39 mi west · 36% at surface
Noxubee County, MS 39 mi northwest · 88% at surface
Tuscaloosa County, AL 40 mi northeast · 2% at surface

Which formation it is

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Selma Group; Mooreville Chalk (carbonate), Cretaceous in age, covering about 15% of the county. Next is the Selma Group; Demopolis Chalk at 3%.

Against the rest of Alabama

Greene County ranks 34 of 67 in Alabama for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 73% of US counties on that measure.