Sinkhole risk in Scott County, VA: Sinkhole country

Sinkhole country

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

On soluble rock: 72%
At or near the surface: 72%
Buried under cover: 0%

What to do about a house in Scott County

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

That works out to roughly 383 of Scott County's 536 square miles on soluble rock, 383 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 21,388 residents (40 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 281 map points about 1.4 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 Scott County

The closest county with no soluble rock mapped is Dickenson County, VA, about 33 miles northeast. 4 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Norton city, VA 15 mi north · 40% at surface
Wise County, VA 18 mi north · 9% at surface
Sullivan County, TN 22 mi southeast · 92% at surface
Hawkins County, TN 25 mi southwest · 73% at surface
Bristol city, VA 26 mi east · 89% at surface
Lee County, VA 29 mi west · 67% at surface

Which formation it is

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Knox Group (dolostone (dolomite)), Cambrian-Ordovician in age, covering about 20% of the county. Next is the Rome Formation at 12%.

Against the rest of Virginia

Scott County ranks 11 of 133 in Virginia for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 93% of US counties on that measure.