Sinkhole risk in De Baca County, NM: Pockets of it

Pockets of it

Soluble rock at the surface or under thin cover in part of the county.

On soluble rock: 23%
At or near the surface: 23%
Buried under cover: 0%

What this means before you buy

Check the parcel against your state survey sinkhole map, and ask for an inspection if cracks, depressions or sticking doors show up.

That works out to roughly 544 of De Baca County's 2,323 square miles on soluble rock, 544 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 1,657 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 320 map points about 2.7 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Worth reading for this county: why gypsum and salt move faster than limestone, and the signs to look for and how an inspection works.

Counties around De Baca County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Eddy County, NM, about 131 miles south. 2 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

Guadalupe County, NM 42 mi northwest · 14% at surface
Roosevelt County, NM 56 mi southeast · 0% at surface
Curry County, NM 60 mi east · 0% at surface
Chaves County, NM 69 mi south · 45% at surface
Quay County, NM 70 mi northeast · 4% at surface
Lincoln County, NM 75 mi southwest · 65% at surface

Which formation it is

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Artesia Group (fine-grained mixed clastic), Permian in age, covering about 19% of the county. Next is the San Andres Formation at 4%.

19% of the county sits on gypsum or salt, which dissolves in years rather than millennia. That share matters more than its size suggests.

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 New Mexico

De Baca County ranks 8 of 33 in New Mexico for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 76% of US counties on that measure.