Sinkhole risk in Orange County, VA: 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%

What to do about a house in Orange County

Sinkholes are uncommon here; watch for new depressions after heavy rain or leaking pipes.

That works out to roughly 12 of Orange County's 341 square miles on soluble rock, 12 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 38,986 residents (114 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 509 map points about 0.8 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Counties around Orange County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Harrisonburg city, VA, about 48 miles west. 3 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

Culpeper County, VA 17 mi north · under 1% at surface
Madison County, VA 18 mi northwest · 1% at surface
Louisa County, VA 19 mi south · 0% at surface
Spotsylvania County, VA 20 mi east · 5% at surface
Greene County, VA 25 mi west · 0% at surface
Fredericksburg city, VA 29 mi east · 10% at surface

What Orange County is built on

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Newark Supergroup; Conglomerate, mixed clasts (conglomerate), Triassic in age, covering about 3% of the county. Next is the Everona Limestone at under 1%.

Against the rest of Virginia

Orange County ranks 72 of 133 in Virginia for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 61% of US counties on that measure.