Sinkhole risk in Ohio County, WV: Pockets of it

Pockets of it

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

On soluble rock: 22%
At or near the surface: 22%
Buried under cover: 0%

What this means before you buy

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 23 of Ohio County's 106 square miles on soluble rock, 23 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 41,090 residents (388 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 329 map points about 0.6 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Worth reading for this county: why gypsum and salt move faster than limestone, and the signs to look for and how an inspection works.

Counties around Ohio County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Winchester city, VA, about 145 miles southeast. 4 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Brooke County, WV 12 mi north · 38% at surface
Marshall County, WV 17 mi south · 4% at surface
Belmont County, OH 19 mi west · 20% at surface
Washington County, PA 21 mi east · 31% at surface
Jefferson County, OH 22 mi north · 31% at surface
Greene County, PA 27 mi southeast · 8% at surface

The rock underneath

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Monongahela Group (sandstone), Pennsylvanian in age, covering about 21% of the county. Next is the Monongahela Group at under 1%.

The county also lies over the Michigan Basin; Ohio Basin; Appalachian 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 West Virginia

Ohio County ranks 9 of 55 in West Virginia for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 75% of US counties on that measure.