Sinkhole risk in Wabasha County, MN: Pockets of it

Pockets of it

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

On soluble rock: 69%
At or near the surface: 21%
Buried under cover: 48%

What this means before you buy

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 361 of Wabasha County's 523 square miles on soluble rock, 109 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 21,574 residents (41 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 258 map points about 1.4 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Counties around Wabasha County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Vernon County, WI, about 85 miles southeast. 6 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Olmsted County, MN 22 mi southwest · 6% at surface
Buffalo County, WI 24 mi east · 31% at surface
Goodhue County, MN 25 mi west · 22% at surface
Pepin County, WI 31 mi northeast · 23% at surface
Winona County, MN 31 mi southeast · 27% at surface
Pierce County, WI 32 mi north · 35% at surface

Which formation it is

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Lower Ordovician rocks, undivided (dolostone (dolomite)), Lower Ordovician in age, covering about 66% of the county. Next is the Middle Ordovician rocks, undivided at 3%.

Against the rest of Minnesota

Wabasha County ranks 5 of 87 in Minnesota for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 75% of US counties on that measure.