Sinkhole risk in Oxford County, ME: 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: 12%
At or near the surface: 0%
Buried under cover: 12%

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 251 of Oxford County's 2,077 square miles on soluble rock. With about 60,039 residents (29 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 495 map points about 2.0 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Worth reading for this county: why the 12% under cover still counts, and how these percentages are measured.

Counties around Oxford County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Union County, PA, about 403 miles southwest. 3 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

Coos County, NH 29 mi west · 0% at surface
Androscoggin County, ME 34 mi southeast · 0% at surface
Franklin County, ME 37 mi northeast · 0% at surface
Kennebec County, ME 48 mi east · 0% at surface
Carroll County, NH 49 mi southwest · 0% at surface
Cumberland County, ME 51 mi southeast · 0% at surface

What Oxford County is built on

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Silurian Sangerville Formation Anasagunticook member (metasedimentary rock), Silurian in age, covering about 7% of the county. Next is the Silurian Sangerville Formation Patch Mountain member at 2%.

Against the rest of Maine

Oxford County ranks 10 of 16 in Maine for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 0% of US counties on that measure.