SinkholeOdds

Sinkhole risk in Jersey County, IL: Mostly deep or small

Mostly deep or small

Some soluble rock, mostly deeply buried or in a small share of the county.

On soluble rock
53%
At or near the surface
7%
Buried under cover
46%

What this means before you buy

Sinkholes are uncommon here; watch for new depressions after heavy rain or leaking pipes.

That works out to roughly 196 of Jersey County's 370 square miles on soluble rock, 25 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 21,150 residents (57 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 260 map points about 1.2 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 why the 46% under cover still counts.

Counties around Jersey County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Calhoun County, IL, about 17 miles west, 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.

What Jersey County is built on

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Middle Valmeyeran (Salem, Warsaw, Borden, Springville; includes thin Mvl and Mk in south and east) Series (limestone), Mississippian in age, covering about 23% of the county. Next is the Lower Valmeyeran (Keokuk-Sedalia) Series at 16%.

The county also lies over the Illinois 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 Illinois

Jersey County ranks 10 of 102 in Illinois for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 65% of US counties on that measure.