Sinkhole risk in Camden County, MO: Sinkhole country

Sinkhole country

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

On soluble rock: 100%
At or near the surface: 100%
Buried under cover: 0%

What to do about a house in Camden County

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

That works out to roughly 656 of Camden County's 656 square miles on soluble rock, 656 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 44,135 residents (67 per square mile), there is effectively nowhere in the county off the soluble rock, town or country. The figures come from 601 map points about 1.0 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Worth reading for this county: the signs to look for and how an inspection works, and how these percentages are measured.

Counties around Camden County

The closest county with no soluble rock mapped is Schuyler County, MO, about 169 miles north. 6 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Miller County, MO 22 mi northeast · 100% at surface
Laclede County, MO 27 mi south · 100% at surface
Dallas County, MO 28 mi southwest · 100% at surface
Morgan County, MO 28 mi north · 100% at surface
Hickory County, MO 31 mi west · 92% at surface
Pulaski County, MO 33 mi southeast · 100% at surface

Which formation it is

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Roubidoux Formation (sandstone), Early Ordovician-Ibexian Series in age, covering about 44% of the county. Next is the Gasconade Dolomite at 43%.

Against the rest of Missouri

Camden County ranks 1 of 115 in Missouri for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 99% of US counties on that measure.