Sinkhole risk in Noxubee County, MS: Sinkhole country

Sinkhole country

Soluble rock at or near the surface across much of the county.

On soluble rock: 88%
At or near the surface: 88%
Buried under cover: 0%

What to do about a house in Noxubee County

Get a sinkhole or geotechnical inspection before buying, building or adding weight to a foundation.

That works out to roughly 609 of Noxubee County's 695 square miles on soluble rock, 609 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 9,825 residents (14 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 386 map points about 1.3 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Counties around Noxubee County

The closest county with no soluble rock mapped is Neshoba County, MS, about 40 miles southwest. 1 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

Kemper County, MS 25 mi south · 36% at surface
Lowndes County, MS 26 mi north · 44% at surface
Winston County, MS 27 mi west · 18% at surface
Oktibbeha County, MS 28 mi northwest · 94% at surface
Pickens County, AL 30 mi northeast · 4% at surface
Greene County, AL 39 mi southeast · 18% at surface

Which formation it is

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Demopolis chalk (carbonate), Upper Cretaceous in age, covering about 45% of the county. Next is the Porters Creek formation at 16%.

Against the rest of Mississippi

Noxubee County ranks 4 of 82 in Mississippi for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 96% of US counties on that measure.