Sinkhole risk in Mono County, CA: 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 to do about a house in Mono County

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

That works out to roughly 58 of Mono County's 3,049 square miles on soluble rock, 58 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 12,991 residents (4 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 375 map points about 2.9 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 Mono County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Emery County, UT, about 447 miles east. 2 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

Mineral County, NV 48 mi northeast · 7% at surface
Tuolumne County, CA 60 mi west · under 1% at surface
Mariposa County, CA 61 mi west · 0% at surface
Madera County, CA 68 mi southwest · 0% at surface
Esmeralda County, NV 68 mi east · 15% at surface
Alpine County, CA 70 mi northwest · 0% at surface

Which formation it is

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Cambrian marine rocks (sandstone), Late Proterozoic to Middle Devonian in age, covering about 2% of the county. Next is the Permian marine sedimentary rocks, unit 1 (Death Valley and Mojave Desert) at under 1%.

Against the rest of California

Mono County ranks 14 of 58 in California for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 57% of US counties on that measure.