Sinkhole risk in Monroe 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: 44%
At or near the surface: 7%
Buried under cover: 37%

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 288 of Monroe County's 648 square miles on soluble rock, 47 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 8,890 residents (14 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 387 map points about 1.3 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Worth reading for this county: why the 37% under cover still counts, and how these percentages are measured.

Counties around Monroe County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Cooper County, MO, about 62 miles southwest. 3 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

Shelby County, MO 21 mi north · 0% at surface
Audrain County, MO 21 mi southeast · 0% at surface
Ralls County, MO 26 mi east · 4% at surface
Randolph County, MO 26 mi west · 0% at surface
Marion County, MO 29 mi northeast · 0% at surface
Macon County, MO 37 mi northwest · 0% at surface

What Monroe County is built on

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Osagean Series (limestone), Early Mississippian-Osagean Series in age, covering about 30% of the county. Next is the Marmaton Group at 15%.

Against the rest of Missouri

Monroe County ranks 72 of 115 in Missouri for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 65% of US counties on that measure.