Sinkhole risk in Lynn County, TX: 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: 1%
At or near the surface: 1%
Buried under cover: 0%

What to do about a house in Lynn County

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

That works out to roughly 9 of Lynn County's 892 square miles on soluble rock, 9 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 5,952 residents (7 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 396 map points about 1.5 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Worth reading for this county: why gypsum and salt move faster than limestone, and how these percentages are measured.

Counties around Lynn County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Kent County, TX, about 61 miles east. 2 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

Garza County, TX 30 mi east · 66% at surface
Lubbock County, TX 30 mi north · under 1% at surface
Terry County, TX 30 mi west · 0% at surface
Dawson County, TX 31 mi south · 3% at surface
Borden County, TX 38 mi southeast · 57% at surface
Crosby County, TX 42 mi northeast · 14% at surface

Which formation it is

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Duck Creek Limestone and Kiamichi Formation, undivided (limestone), Early Cretaceous in age, covering about under 1% of the county. Next is the Dockum Group, undivided at under 1%.

The county also lies over the Permian Basin, Anadarko Basin,Dalhart Basin, Palo Duro Basin, a deep salt or gypsum basin. Deep beds rarely cause surface collapse on their own, but wells and mining into them have.

Against the rest of Texas

Lynn County ranks 138 of 254 in Texas for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 55% of US counties on that measure.