Sinkhole risk in Tippah County, MS: Sinkhole country

Sinkhole country

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

On soluble rock: 60%
At or near the surface: 60%
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 276 of Tippah County's 458 square miles on soluble rock, 276 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 21,423 residents (47 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 319 map points about 1.2 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Counties around Tippah County

The closest county with no soluble rock mapped is Fayette County, TN, about 41 miles northwest. 1 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

Benton County, MS 16 mi west · 2% at surface
Union County, MS 20 mi south · 75% at surface
Alcorn County, MS 21 mi northeast · 41% at surface
Prentiss County, MS 25 mi southeast · 24% at surface
Hardeman County, TN 32 mi north · 5% at surface
Marshall County, MS 33 mi west · 1% at surface

Which formation it is

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Porters Creek formation (clay or mud), Paleocene in age, covering about 26% of the county. Next is the Clayton formation at 19%.

Against the rest of Mississippi

Tippah County ranks 8 of 82 in Mississippi for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 90% of US counties on that measure.