Sinkhole risk in Kossuth County, IA: 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: 18%
At or near the surface: 0%
Buried under cover: 18%

The next step for one property

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

That works out to roughly 179 of Kossuth County's 973 square miles on soluble rock. With about 14,408 residents (15 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 396 map points about 1.6 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Counties around Kossuth County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Clayton County, IA, about 148 miles east. 4 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Palo Alto County, IA 25 mi west · 0% at surface
Hancock County, IA 26 mi east · 0% at surface
Emmet County, IA 26 mi northwest · 0% at surface
Winnebago County, IA 26 mi northeast · 0% at surface
Humboldt County, IA 30 mi south · 0% at surface
Faribault County, MN 35 mi northeast · 0% at surface

What Kossuth County is built on

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Cedar Valley Limestone (limestone), Middle Dovonian in age, covering about 7% of the county. Next is the Kinderhook Series at 6%.

Against the rest of Iowa

Kossuth County ranks 58 of 99 in Iowa for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 0% of US counties on that measure.