Sinkhole risk in Dawson County, TX: 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: 3%
At or near the surface: 3%
Buried under cover: 0%

What this means before you buy

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

That works out to roughly 23 of Dawson County's 900 square miles on soluble rock, 23 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 11,758 residents (13 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 396 map points about 1.5 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Counties around Dawson County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Ector County, TX, about 70 miles southwest. 2 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

Borden County, TX 30 mi east · 57% at surface
Martin County, TX 30 mi south · 3% at surface
Lynn County, TX 31 mi north · 1% at surface
Terry County, TX 37 mi northwest · 0% at surface
Gaines County, TX 40 mi west · 0% at surface
Howard County, TX 42 mi southeast · 25% at surface

The rock underneath

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Edwards Limestone and Antlers Sand, undivided (sandstone), Early Cretaceous in age, covering about 2% of the county. Next is the Dockum Group, undivided at 1%.

The county also lies over the Permian Basin, Anadarko Basin,Dalhart Basin, Palo Duro Basin, 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 Texas

Dawson County ranks 133 of 254 in Texas for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 59% of US counties on that measure.