Sinkhole risk in Ozark 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%

The next step for one property

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

That works out to roughly 745 of Ozark County's 745 square miles on soluble rock, 745 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 9,090 residents (12 per square mile), there is effectively nowhere in the county off the soluble rock, town or country. The figures come from 387 map points about 1.4 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Worth reading for this county: the signs to look for and how an inspection works, and how these percentages are measured.

Counties around Ozark County

The closest county with no soluble rock mapped is Van Buren County, AR, about 74 miles south. 6 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Douglas County, MO 21 mi north · 100% at surface
Baxter County, AR 26 mi south · 96% at surface
Marion County, AR 29 mi southwest · 94% at surface
Taney County, MO 32 mi west · 100% at surface
Howell County, MO 33 mi east · 100% at surface
Fulton County, AR 40 mi southeast · 100% at surface

The rock underneath

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 85% of the county. Next is the Roubidoux Formation at 14%.

Against the rest of Missouri

Ozark County ranks 13 of 115 in Missouri for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 99% of US counties on that measure.