Sinkhole risk in Warren County, TN: Sinkhole country

Sinkhole country

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

On soluble rock: 81%
At or near the surface: 81%
Buried under cover: 0%

What to do about a house in Warren County

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

That works out to roughly 351 of Warren County's 433 square miles on soluble rock, 351 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 43,619 residents (101 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 302 map points about 1.2 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Counties around Warren County

The closest county with no soluble rock mapped is Morgan County, TN, about 71 miles northeast. 4 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Van Buren County, TN 18 mi east · 27% at surface
Cannon County, TN 18 mi northwest · 63% at surface
Grundy County, TN 20 mi south · 21% at surface
DeKalb County, TN 21 mi north · 61% at surface
Coffee County, TN 21 mi southwest · 74% at surface
White County, TN 25 mi northeast · 74% at surface

The rock underneath

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the St. Louis Limestone and Warsaw Limestone (limestone), Mississippian in age, covering about 66% of the county. Next is the Monteagle Limestone at 10%.

Against the rest of Tennessee

Warren County ranks 21 of 95 in Tennessee for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 95% of US counties on that measure.