Sinkhole risk in Lowndes County, AL: Pockets of it

Pockets of it

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

On soluble rock: 49%
At or near the surface: 49%
Buried under cover: 0%

What to do about a house in Lowndes County

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 352 of Lowndes County's 716 square miles on soluble rock, 352 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 9,485 residents (13 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 326 map points about 1.5 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 Lowndes County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Geneva County, AL, about 88 miles southeast. 5 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Montgomery County, AL 26 mi east · 49% at surface
Autauga County, AL 27 mi north · 2% at surface
Butler County, AL 27 mi south · 25% at surface
Dallas County, AL 30 mi northwest · 27% at surface
Crenshaw County, AL 35 mi southeast · 30% at surface
Wilcox County, AL 40 mi west · 27% at surface

Which formation it is

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Selma Group; Demopolis Chalk (carbonate), Cretaceous in age, covering about 29% of the county. Next is the Selma Group; Mooreville Chalk at 8%.

Against the rest of Alabama

Lowndes County ranks 13 of 67 in Alabama for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 87% of US counties on that measure.