Sinkhole risk in Kemper County, MS: Pockets of it

Pockets of it

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

On soluble rock: 36%
At or near the surface: 36%
Buried under cover: 0%

What this means before you buy

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 274 of Kemper County's 766 square miles on soluble rock, 274 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 8,562 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 392 map points about 1.4 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Two things to read before deciding: why gypsum and salt move faster than limestone, and the signs to look for and how an inspection works.

Counties around Kemper County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Noxubee County, MS, about 25 miles north, 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.

Lauderdale County, MS 24 mi south · 0% at surface
Noxubee County, MS 25 mi north · 88% at surface
Sumter County, AL 27 mi southeast · 46% at surface
Neshoba County, MS 29 mi west · 0% at surface
Winston County, MS 33 mi northwest · 18% at surface
Newton County, MS 37 mi southwest · 21% at surface

The rock underneath

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Porters Creek formation (clay or mud), Paleocene in age, covering about 28% of the county. Next is the Clayton formation at 3%.

The county also lies over the Gulf Coast salt domes, 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 Mississippi

Kemper County ranks 11 of 82 in Mississippi for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 82% of US counties on that measure.