Sinkhole risk in Bernalillo County, NM: 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: 6%
At or near the surface: 6%
Buried under cover: 0%

What to do about a house in Bernalillo County

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

That works out to roughly 70 of Bernalillo County's 1,161 square miles on soluble rock, 70 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 671,747 residents (578 per square mile), most of the county is built up, so a mapped unit is likely to sit under somebody's street. The figures come from 331 map points about 1.9 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Counties around Bernalillo County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Eddy County, NM, about 225 miles southeast. 1 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

Valencia County, NM 25 mi south · 13% at surface
Sandoval County, NM 45 mi north · 18% at surface
Santa Fe County, NM 51 mi northeast · 18% at surface
Torrance County, NM 56 mi southeast · 28% at surface
Los Alamos County, NM 60 mi north · 0% at surface
Socorro County, NM 75 mi south · 23% at surface

The rock underneath

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Santa Fe Group (clastic), Quaternary and Tertiary in age, covering about 2% of the county. Next is the Madera Formation at 2%.

Against the rest of New Mexico

Bernalillo County ranks 22 of 33 in New Mexico for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 64% of US counties on that measure.