SinkholeOdds

Sinkhole risk in Nelson County, ND: No soluble rock mapped

No soluble rock mapped

No soluble bedrock mapped.

On soluble rock
under 1%
At or near the surface
0%
Buried under cover
under 1%

The next step for one property

No soluble bedrock is mapped here, so natural sinkholes are unlikely. Collapses from broken pipes or old mines are a separate risk.

That works out to roughly 3 of Nelson County's 982 square miles on soluble rock. With about 3,007 residents (3 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 372 map points about 1.6 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Two things to read before deciding: how these percentages are measured, and the warning signs that apply anywhere.

Counties around Nelson County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Boyd County, NE, about 348 miles south. 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 Niobrara and Carlile Formations, Undivided (limestone), Cretaceous in age, covering about under 1% of the county.

Against the rest of North Dakota

Nelson County ranks 35 of 53 in North Dakota for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 0% of US counties on that measure.