Sinkhole risk in Atchison County, MO: 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: 25%
At or near the surface: 0%
Buried under cover: 25%

The next step for one property

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

That works out to roughly 138 of Atchison County's 547 square miles on soluble rock. With about 5,139 residents (9 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 336 map points about 1.3 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Counties around Atchison County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Johnson County, KS, about 112 miles south. 5 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Nemaha County, NE 22 mi west · 0% at surface
Fremont County, IA 23 mi north · 0% at surface
Holt County, MO 26 mi southeast · 0% at surface
Richardson County, NE 26 mi southwest · 0% at surface
Page County, IA 26 mi northeast · 0% at surface
Nodaway County, MO 30 mi east · 0% at surface

The rock underneath

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Shawnee Group (limestone), Late Pennsylvanian-Upper Series-Virgilian Stage in age, covering about 25% of the county.

Against the rest of Missouri

Atchison County ranks 78 of 115 in Missouri for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 0% of US counties on that measure.