SinkholeOdds

Sinkhole risk in Parke County, IN: 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
9%
At or near the surface
under 1%
Buried under cover
9%

What this means before you buy

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

That works out to roughly 41 of Parke County's 445 square miles on soluble rock, 1 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 16,508 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 338 map points about 1.1 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Two things to read before deciding: why gypsum and salt move faster than limestone, and why the 9% under cover still counts.

Counties around Parke County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Monroe County, IN, about 56 miles southeast. 3 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

What Parke County is built on

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Sanders Group (limestone), Mississippian in age, covering about 5% of the county. Next is the Blue River Group at 4%.

The county also lies over the Illinois 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 Indiana

Parke County ranks 31 of 92 in Indiana for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 51% of US counties on that measure.