Sinkhole risk in Potter County, TX: 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: 11%
At or near the surface: 11%
Buried under cover: 0%

What to do about a house in Potter County

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

That works out to roughly 104 of Potter County's 908 square miles on soluble rock, 104 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 114,649 residents (126 per square mile), homes are spread across towns and farmland, and a mapped unit may or may not reach the developed parts. The figures come from 396 map points about 1.5 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Counties around Potter County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Donley County, TX, about 68 miles southeast. 4 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Randall County, TX 30 mi south · 3% at surface
Moore County, TX 30 mi north · 6% at surface
Carson County, TX 30 mi east · under 1% at surface
Oldham County, TX 40 mi west · 2% at surface
Hutchinson County, TX 43 mi northeast · 12% at surface
Armstrong County, TX 43 mi southeast · 27% at surface

The rock underneath

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Quartermaster Formation and Whitehorse Group, undivided (mixed clastic/carbonate), Permian; Guadalupe Series in age, covering about 11% of the county.

11% of the county sits on gypsum or salt, which dissolves in years rather than millennia. That share matters more than its size suggests.

The county also lies over the Permian Basin, Anadarko Basin,Dalhart Basin, Palo Duro Basin, a deep salt or gypsum basin. Deep beds rarely cause surface collapse on their own, but wells and mining into them have.

Against the rest of Texas

Potter County ranks 113 of 254 in Texas for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 69% of US counties on that measure.