SinkholeOdds

Sinkhole risk in Muhlenberg County, KY: 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
4%
At or near the surface
4%
Buried under cover
0%

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 17 of Muhlenberg County's 467 square miles on soluble rock, 17 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 30,512 residents (65 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 271 map points about 1.3 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 how these percentages are measured.

Counties around Muhlenberg County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Todd County, KY, about 26 miles south, close enough that the same rock may run under the county line. 1 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

The rock underneath

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Rocks of Chesterian age, upper part (shale), Upper Mississippian in age, covering about 4% of the county.

The county also lies over the Illinois Basin, 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 Kentucky

Muhlenberg County ranks 84 of 120 in Kentucky for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 61% of US counties on that measure.