Sinkhole risk in Oktibbeha County, MS: Sinkhole country

Sinkhole country

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

On soluble rock: 94%
At or near the surface: 94%
Buried under cover: 0%

What this means before you buy

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

That works out to roughly 429 of Oktibbeha County's 458 square miles on soluble rock, 429 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 51,965 residents (114 per square mile), there is effectively nowhere in the county off the soluble rock, town or country. The figures come from 384 map points about 1.1 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Counties around Oktibbeha County

The closest county with no soluble rock mapped is Choctaw County, MS, about 22 miles west. 2 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

Clay County, MS 17 mi north · 94% at surface
Choctaw County, MS 22 mi west · 0% at surface
Lowndes County, MS 25 mi east · 44% at surface
Winston County, MS 26 mi south · 18% at surface
Webster County, MS 27 mi northwest · 7% at surface
Noxubee County, MS 28 mi southeast · 88% at surface

Which formation it is

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Porters Creek formation (clay or mud), Paleocene in age, covering about 39% of the county. Next is the Demopolis chalk at 16%.

Against the rest of Mississippi

Oktibbeha County ranks 2 of 82 in Mississippi for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 98% of US counties on that measure.