Sinkhole risk in Osage County, KS: Pockets of it

Pockets of it

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

On soluble rock: 41%
At or near the surface: 41%
Buried under cover: 0%

What to do about a house in Osage County

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 291 of Osage County's 706 square miles on soluble rock, 291 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 15,737 residents (22 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 400 map points about 1.3 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Counties around Osage County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Coffey County, KS, about 29 miles south, close enough that the same rock may run under the county line. 4 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Franklin County, KS 24 mi east · 33% at surface
Shawnee County, KS 27 mi north · 4% at surface
Lyon County, KS 28 mi southwest · 39% at surface
Douglas County, KS 28 mi northeast · 23% at surface
Coffey County, KS 29 mi south · 53% at surface
Wabaunsee County, KS 34 mi northwest · 65% at surface

What Osage County is built on

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Shawnee Group (limestone), Late Pennsylvanian- Virgilian in age, covering about 41% of the county. Next is the Admire Group at under 1%.

Against the rest of Kansas

Osage County ranks 31 of 105 in Kansas for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 85% of US counties on that measure.