Sinkhole risk in Josephine County, OR: 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: 9%
At or near the surface: 9%
Buried under cover: 0%

The next step for one property

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

That works out to roughly 139 of Josephine County's 1,639 square miles on soluble rock, 139 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 88,276 residents (54 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 294 map points about 2.4 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Two things to read before deciding: how these percentages are measured, and the warning signs that apply anywhere.

Counties around Josephine County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Emery County, UT, about 712 miles east. 3 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

Curry County, OR 33 mi west · under 1% at surface
Jackson County, OR 46 mi east · 2% at surface
Del Norte County, CA 49 mi southwest · under 1% at surface
Coos County, OR 61 mi northwest · 0% at surface
Douglas County, OR 66 mi north · 1% at surface
Siskiyou County, CA 77 mi southeast · 9% at surface

The rock underneath

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Sedimentary rocks, partly metamorphosed (Triassic and Paleozoic) (mudstone), Paleozoic to Jurassic(?) in age, covering about 5% of the county. Next is the Melange (Jurassic) at 3%.

Against the rest of Oregon

Josephine County ranks 2 of 36 in Oregon for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 66% of US counties on that measure.