Sinkhole risk in Greene County, MO: Sinkhole country

Sinkhole country

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

On soluble rock: 97%
At or near the surface: 97%
Buried under cover: 0%

What to do about a house in Greene County

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

That works out to roughly 657 of Greene County's 675 square miles on soluble rock, 657 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 307,942 residents (456 per square mile), there is effectively nowhere in the county off the soluble rock, town or country. The figures come from 374 map points about 1.3 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 Greene County

The closest county with no soluble rock mapped is Johnson County, AR, about 117 miles south. 6 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Christian County, MO 22 mi southeast · 98% at surface
Polk County, MO 25 mi north · 97% at surface
Webster County, MO 26 mi east · 100% at surface
Lawrence County, MO 29 mi west · 96% at surface
Dade County, MO 31 mi northwest · 73% at surface
Dallas County, MO 34 mi northeast · 100% at surface

The rock underneath

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Kinderhookian Series (limestone), Early Mississippian-Kinderhookian Series in age, covering about 86% of the county. Next is the Smithville Dolomite, Powell Dolomite, Cotter Dolomite, Jefferson City Dolomite at 10%.

Against the rest of Missouri

Greene County ranks 28 of 115 in Missouri for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 98% of US counties on that measure.