Sinkhole risk in Morgan County, MO: Sinkhole country

Sinkhole country

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

On soluble rock: 100%
At or near the surface: 100%
Buried under cover: 0%

What to do about a house in Morgan County

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

That works out to roughly 598 of Morgan County's 598 square miles on soluble rock, 598 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 22,399 residents (37 per square mile), there is effectively nowhere in the county off the soluble rock, town or country. The figures come from 300 map points about 1.4 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Counties around Morgan County

The closest county with no soluble rock mapped is Putnam County, MO, about 142 miles north. 6 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Moniteau County, MO 22 mi northeast · 95% at surface
Benton County, MO 24 mi west · 89% at surface
Camden County, MO 28 mi south · 100% at surface
Miller County, MO 28 mi southeast · 100% at surface
Cooper County, MO 30 mi north · 83% at surface
Pettis County, MO 31 mi northwest · 71% at surface

What Morgan County is built on

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Smithville Dolomite, Powell Dolomite, Cotter Dolomite, Jefferson City Dolomite (dolostone (dolomite)), Early Ordovician-Ibexian Series in age, covering about 51% of the county. Next is the Gasconade Dolomite at 29%.

Against the rest of Missouri

Morgan County ranks 11 of 115 in Missouri for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 99% of US counties on that measure.