Sinkhole risk in Greenlee County, AZ: 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: 2%
At or near the surface: 2%
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 33 of Greenlee County's 1,843 square miles on soluble rock, 33 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 9,410 residents (5 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 327 map points about 2.4 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Worth reading for this county: how these percentages are measured, and the warning signs that apply anywhere.

Counties around Greenlee County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Eddy County, NM, about 292 miles east. 4 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Graham County, AZ 42 mi southwest · under 1% at surface
Grant County, NM 61 mi southeast · 2% at surface
Catron County, NM 67 mi northeast · 1% at surface
Hidalgo County, NM 97 mi south · 2% at surface
Gila County, AZ 98 mi northwest · 35% at surface
Cochise County, AZ 102 mi south · 6% at surface

The rock underneath

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Mississippian, Devonian, and Cambrian sedimentary rocks (sandstone), Cambrian, Devonian, and Mississippi in age, covering about 1% of the county. Next is the Permian to Pennsylvanian sedimentary rocks at under 1%.

Against the rest of Arizona

Greenlee County ranks 10 of 15 in Arizona for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 57% of US counties on that measure.