Sinkhole risk in Pickett County, TN: Sinkhole country

Sinkhole country

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

On soluble rock: 56%
At or near the surface: 56%
Buried under cover: 0%

What to do about a house in Pickett County

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

That works out to roughly 90 of Pickett County's 163 square miles on soluble rock, 90 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 5,108 residents (31 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 398 map points about 0.6 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Counties around Pickett County

The closest county with no soluble rock mapped is Scott County, TN, about 33 miles east. 3 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

Clinton County, KY 12 mi north · 75% at surface
Fentress County, TN 15 mi southeast · 15% at surface
Overton County, TN 19 mi southwest · 66% at surface
Wayne County, KY 22 mi northeast · 75% at surface
Cumberland County, KY 23 mi northwest · 36% at surface
Clay County, TN 26 mi west · 39% at surface

What Pickett County is built on

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the St. Louis Limestone and Warsaw Limestone (limestone), Mississippian in age, covering about 42% of the county. Next is the Monteagle Limestone at 9%.

Against the rest of Tennessee

Pickett County ranks 46 of 95 in Tennessee for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 89% of US counties on that measure.