SinkholeOdds

Sinkhole risk in Sargent County, ND: 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
32%
At or near the surface
0%
Buried under cover
32%

What to do about a house in Sargent County

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

That works out to roughly 277 of Sargent County's 858 square miles on soluble rock. With about 3,710 residents (4 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 378 map points about 1.5 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Read next: why the 32% under cover still counts, and how these percentages are measured.

Counties around Sargent County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Boyd County, NE, about 229 miles south. 5 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

What Sargent County is built on

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Niobrara and Carlile Formations, Undivided (limestone), Cretaceous in age, covering about 32% of the county.

Against the rest of North Dakota

Sargent County ranks 43 of 53 in North Dakota for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 0% of US counties on that measure.