Sinkhole risk in Tucker County, WV: 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: 8%
At or near the surface: 8%
Buried under cover: 0%

What this means before you buy

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

That works out to roughly 32 of Tucker County's 419 square miles on soluble rock, 32 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 6,573 residents (16 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 276 map points about 1.2 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Worth reading for this county: why gypsum and salt move faster than limestone, and how these percentages are measured.

Counties around Tucker County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Harrisonburg city, VA, about 60 miles southeast. 2 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

Grant County, WV 20 mi east · 11% at surface
Barbour County, WV 24 mi west · 0% at surface
Preston County, WV 25 mi north · 2% at surface
Randolph County, WV 28 mi southwest · 17% at surface
Taylor County, WV 30 mi northwest · 0% at surface
Pendleton County, WV 32 mi south · 19% at surface

The rock underneath

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Greenbrier Group (limestone), Mississippian in age, covering about 8% of the county.

The county also lies over the Michigan Basin; Ohio Basin; Appalachian Basin, a deep salt or gypsum basin. Deep beds rarely cause surface collapse on their own, but wells and mining into them have.

Against the rest of West Virginia

Tucker County ranks 18 of 55 in West Virginia for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 66% of US counties on that measure.