Sinkhole risk in Lawrence County, MO: Sinkhole country

Sinkhole country

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

On soluble rock: 96%
At or near the surface: 96%
Buried under cover: 0%

What to do about a house in Lawrence County

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

That works out to roughly 584 of Lawrence County's 612 square miles on soluble rock, 584 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 39,151 residents (64 per square mile), there is effectively nowhere in the county off the soluble rock, town or country. The figures come from 396 map points about 1.2 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Counties around Lawrence County

The closest county with no soluble rock mapped is Crawford County, AR, about 108 miles south. 6 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Dade County, MO 23 mi north · 73% at surface
Barry County, MO 28 mi south · 99% at surface
Jasper County, MO 29 mi west · 85% at surface
Greene County, MO 29 mi east · 97% at surface
Newton County, MO 31 mi southwest · 99% at surface
Stone County, MO 32 mi southeast · 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 69% of the county. Next is the Meramecian Series at 21%.

Against the rest of Missouri

Lawrence County ranks 33 of 115 in Missouri for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 98% of US counties on that measure.