Sinkhole risk in Sevier County, TN: Pockets of it

Pockets of it

Soluble rock at the surface or under thin cover in part of the county.

On soluble rock: 36%
At or near the surface: 36%
Buried under cover: 0%

The next step for one property

Check the parcel against your state survey sinkhole map, and ask for an inspection if cracks, depressions or sticking doors show up.

That works out to roughly 212 of Sevier County's 593 square miles on soluble rock, 212 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 100,184 residents (169 per square mile), homes are spread across towns and farmland, and a mapped unit may or may not reach the developed parts. The figures come from 240 map points about 1.6 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 Sevier County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Jefferson County, TN, about 19 miles north, close enough that the same rock may run under the county line. None of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so Sevier County stands out from its surroundings.

Swain County, NC 15 mi south · 2% at surface
Jefferson County, TN 19 mi north · 100% at surface
Blount County, TN 23 mi west · 58% at surface
Cocke County, TN 24 mi east · 50% at surface
Knox County, TN 27 mi northwest · 95% at surface
Hamblen County, TN 33 mi northeast · 99% at surface

What Sevier County is built on

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Sevier Shale (shale), Ordovician in age, covering about 20% of the county. Next is the Jonesboro Limestone, Newala Formation, Mascot Dolomite, Kingsport Formation, Longview Dolomite, and Chepultepec Dolomite at 4%.

Against the rest of Tennessee

Sevier County ranks 56 of 95 in Tennessee for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 82% of US counties on that measure.