Sinkhole risk in Glasscock County, TX: Pockets of it

Pockets of it

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

On soluble rock: 24%
At or near the surface: 24%
Buried under cover: 0%

What to do about a house in Glasscock County

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 212 of Glasscock County's 900 square miles on soluble rock, 212 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 1,153 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 396 map points about 1.5 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 Glasscock County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Coke County, TX, about 52 miles east. 5 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Sterling County, TX 27 mi east · 55% at surface
Midland County, TX 28 mi west · 16% at surface
Howard County, TX 30 mi north · 25% at surface
Reagan County, TX 34 mi south · 49% at surface
Martin County, TX 40 mi northwest · 3% at surface
Mitchell County, TX 46 mi northeast · 70% at surface

Which formation it is

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Edwards Limestone (limestone), Early Cretaceous in age, covering about 24% of the county.

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

Glasscock County ranks 97 of 254 in Texas for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 76% of US counties on that measure.