Sinkhole risk in Pamlico County, NC: Pockets of it

Pockets of it

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

On soluble rock: 17%
At or near the surface: 17%
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 56 of Pamlico County's 337 square miles on soluble rock, 56 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 12,550 residents (37 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 514 map points about 0.8 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Two things to read before deciding: the signs to look for and how an inspection works, and how these percentages are measured.

Counties around Pamlico County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Craven County, NC, about 24 miles west, close enough that the same rock may run under the county line. 1 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

Carteret County, NC 21 mi south · 9% at surface
Craven County, NC 24 mi west · 69% at surface
Beaufort County, NC 25 mi northwest · 41% at surface
Hyde County, NC 34 mi northeast · 0% at surface
Jones County, NC 40 mi west · 92% at surface
Washington County, NC 48 mi north · 11% at surface

The rock underneath

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Yorktown Formation and Duplin Formation, Undivided (clay or mud), Tertiary in age, covering about 17% of the county.

Against the rest of North Carolina

Pamlico County ranks 34 of 100 in North Carolina for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 73% of US counties on that measure.