Sinkhole risk in Halifax County, VA: No soluble rock mapped

No soluble rock mapped

No soluble bedrock mapped.

On soluble rock: under 1%
At or near the surface: under 1%
Buried under cover: 0%

What to do about a house in Halifax County

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 Halifax County's 818 square miles on soluble rock, 3 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 33,448 residents (41 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 250 map points about 1.8 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Two things to read before deciding: how these percentages are measured, and the warning signs that apply anywhere.

Counties around Halifax County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Roanoke city, VA, about 66 miles northwest. 2 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

Charlotte County, VA 23 mi northeast · 2% at surface
Pittsylvania County, VA 26 mi west · 2% at surface
Person County, NC 26 mi south · 0% at surface
Danville city, VA 29 mi southwest · 1% at surface
Campbell County, VA 32 mi north · 2% at surface
Mecklenburg County, VA 32 mi east · 0% at surface

What Halifax County is built on

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Newark Supergroup; Conglomerate, mixed clasts (conglomerate), Triassic in age, covering about under 1% of the county.

Against the rest of Virginia

Halifax County ranks 92 of 133 in Virginia for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 52% of US counties on that measure.