Sinkhole risk in Catron 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: 1%
At or near the surface: 1%
Buried under cover: 0%

What to do about a house in Catron County

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

That works out to roughly 90 of Catron County's 6,924 square miles on soluble rock, 90 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 3,795 residents (1 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 377 map points about 4.3 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Counties around Catron County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Eddy County, NM, about 256 miles east. 3 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

Greenlee County, AZ 67 mi southwest · 2% at surface
Cibola County, NM 74 mi north · 29% at surface
Grant County, NM 81 mi south · 2% at surface
Socorro County, NM 84 mi east · 23% at surface
Sierra County, NM 88 mi southeast · 16% at surface
Valencia County, NM 107 mi northeast · 13% at surface

Which formation it is

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Chinle Group (medium-grained mixed clastic), Triassic in age, covering about 1% of the county. Next is the Rio Salado Tongue of Mancos Shale at under 1%.

1% of the county sits on gypsum or salt, which dissolves in years rather than millennia. That share matters more than its size suggests.

Against the rest of New Mexico

Catron County ranks 28 of 33 in New Mexico for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 56% of US counties on that measure.