Sinkhole risk in Wayne County, MS: Pockets of it

Pockets of it

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

On soluble rock: 17%
At or near the surface: 17%
Buried under cover: 0%

What to do about a house in Wayne County

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 141 of Wayne County's 811 square miles on soluble rock, 141 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 19,749 residents (24 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 356 map points about 1.5 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Two things to read before deciding: why gypsum and salt move faster than limestone, and the signs to look for and how an inspection works.

Counties around Wayne County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Noxubee County, MS, about 101 miles north. 1 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

Clarke County, MS 28 mi north · 14% at surface
Jones County, MS 29 mi west · under 1% at surface
Greene County, MS 30 mi south · 0% at surface
Washington County, AL 32 mi southeast · 3% at surface
Choctaw County, AL 35 mi northeast · 5% at surface
Jasper County, MS 37 mi northwest · 21% at surface

Which formation it is

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Vicksburg group and Chickasawhay limestone (limestone), Oligocene in age, covering about 12% of the county. Next is the Forest Hill formation and Red Bluff clay at 6%.

The county also lies over the Gulf Coast salt domes, 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 Mississippi

Wayne County ranks 19 of 82 in Mississippi for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 73% of US counties on that measure.