Sinkhole risk in Holt County, MO: 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: 43%
At or near the surface: 0%
Buried under cover: 43%

What to do about a house in Holt County

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

That works out to roughly 198 of Holt County's 463 square miles on soluble rock. With about 4,241 residents (9 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 579 map points about 0.9 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Counties around Holt County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Johnson County, KS, about 86 miles south. 5 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Doniphan County, KS 22 mi south · 0% at surface
Andrew County, MO 23 mi east · 0% at surface
Nodaway County, MO 26 mi northeast · 0% at surface
Atchison County, MO 26 mi northwest · 0% at surface
Brown County, KS 26 mi southwest · 0% at surface
Richardson County, NE 26 mi west · 0% at surface

What Holt County is built on

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Shawnee Group (limestone), Late Pennsylvanian-Upper Series-Virgilian Stage in age, covering about 43% of the county.

Against the rest of Missouri

Holt County ranks 93 of 115 in Missouri for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 0% of US counties on that measure.