Sinkhole risk in King George County, VA: Pockets of it

Pockets of it

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

On soluble rock: 45%
At or near the surface: 45%
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 81 of King George County's 180 square miles on soluble rock, 81 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 28,816 residents (160 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 626 map points about 0.5 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 King George County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Clarke County, VA, about 73 miles northwest. 4 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Charles County, MD 16 mi northeast · 15% at surface
Fredericksburg city, VA 18 mi west · 10% at surface
Stafford County, VA 19 mi northwest · 23% at surface
Caroline County, VA 20 mi southwest · 48% at surface
Westmoreland County, VA 23 mi southeast · 20% at surface
Essex County, VA 27 mi southeast · 42% at surface

What King George County is built on

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Chesapeake Group (sand), Tertiary in age, covering about 33% of the county. Next is the Lower Tertiary Deposits at 13%.

Against the rest of Virginia

King George County ranks 26 of 133 in Virginia for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 86% of US counties on that measure.