Sinkhole risk in Kershaw County, SC: Sinkhole country

Sinkhole country

Soluble rock at or near the surface across much of the county.

On soluble rock: 57%
At or near the surface: 57%
Buried under cover: 0%

What this means before you buy

Get a sinkhole or geotechnical inspection before buying, building or adding weight to a foundation.

That works out to roughly 412 of Kershaw County's 727 square miles on soluble rock, 412 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 71,698 residents (99 per square mile), homes are spread across towns and farmland, and a mapped unit may or may not reach the developed parts. The figures come from 598 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 Kershaw County

The closest county with no soluble rock mapped is Fairfield County, SC, about 31 miles west. 3 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

Lee County, SC 23 mi southeast · 88% at surface
Lancaster County, SC 25 mi north · 8% at surface
Richland County, SC 28 mi southwest · 47% at surface
Fairfield County, SC 31 mi west · 0% at surface
Sumter County, SC 32 mi south · 77% at surface
Chesterfield County, SC 32 mi northeast · 63% at surface

What Kershaw County is built on

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Peedee Formation /Black Creek Group, undivided (clay or mud), Cretaceous in age, covering about 57% of the county.

Against the rest of South Carolina

Kershaw County ranks 16 of 46 in South Carolina for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 89% of US counties on that measure.