Sinkhole risk in Scotland County, NC: Sinkhole country

Sinkhole country

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

On soluble rock: 91%
At or near the surface: 91%
Buried under cover: 0%

The next step for one property

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

That works out to roughly 292 of Scotland County's 319 square miles on soluble rock, 292 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 33,898 residents (106 per square mile), there is effectively nowhere in the county off the soluble rock, town or country. The figures come from 546 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 Scotland County

The closest county with no soluble rock mapped is Stanly County, NC, about 55 miles northwest. 4 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Hoke County, NC 18 mi northeast · 83% at surface
Richmond County, NC 19 mi northwest · 20% at surface
Marlboro County, SC 20 mi southwest · 64% at surface
Robeson County, NC 25 mi southeast · 89% at surface
Dillon County, SC 32 mi south · 79% at surface
Moore County, NC 32 mi north · 36% at surface

The rock underneath

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Middendorf Formation (sand), Cretaceous in age, covering about 83% of the county. Next is the Pinehurst Formation at 8%.

Against the rest of North Carolina

Scotland County ranks 3 of 100 in North Carolina for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 97% of US counties on that measure.