Sinkhole risk in Quay County, NM: 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: 4%
At or near the surface: 4%
Buried under cover: 0%

What this means before you buy

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

That works out to roughly 121 of Quay County's 2,874 square miles on soluble rock, 121 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 8,403 residents (3 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 240 map points about 3.5 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Counties around Quay County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Briscoe County, TX, about 139 miles east. 2 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

Curry County, NM 39 mi south · 0% at surface
Deaf Smith County, TX 54 mi east · under 1% at surface
Harding County, NM 55 mi north · 12% at surface
Oldham County, TX 57 mi east · 2% at surface
Parmer County, TX 59 mi southeast · 0% at surface
De Baca County, NM 70 mi southwest · 23% at surface

What Quay County is built on

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Morrison Formation (fine-grained mixed clastic), Jurassic in age, covering about 3% of the county. Next is the San Rafael Group at 2%.

2% 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 New Mexico

Quay County ranks 24 of 33 in New Mexico for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 62% of US counties on that measure.