Sinkhole risk in Greenwood 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: 55%
At or near the surface: 55%
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 625 of Greenwood County's 1,143 square miles on soluble rock, 625 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 5,871 residents (5 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 382 map points about 1.7 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 Greenwood County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Wilson County, KS, about 35 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.

Woodson County, KS 26 mi east · 40% at surface
Elk County, KS 29 mi south · 53% at surface
Butler County, KS 33 mi west · 93% at surface
Chase County, KS 35 mi northwest · 87% at surface
Wilson County, KS 35 mi southeast · 54% at surface
Coffey County, KS 37 mi northeast · 53% at surface

What Greenwood County is built on

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Shawnee Group (limestone), Late Pennsylvanian- Virgilian in age, covering about 27% of the county. Next is the Admire Group at 18%.

Against the rest of Kansas

Greenwood County ranks 24 of 105 in Kansas for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 88% of US counties on that measure.