Sinkhole risk in Reynolds County, MO: Sinkhole country

Sinkhole country

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

On soluble rock: 98%
At or near the surface: 98%
Buried under cover: 0%

What this means before you buy

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

That works out to roughly 791 of Reynolds County's 808 square miles on soluble rock, 791 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 5,927 residents (7 per square mile), there is effectively nowhere in the county off the soluble rock, town or country. The figures come from 269 map points about 1.7 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 Reynolds County

The closest county with no soluble rock mapped is Clay County, AR, about 76 miles southeast. 6 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Iron County, MO 23 mi northeast · 79% at surface
Shannon County, MO 27 mi southwest · 99% at surface
Carter County, MO 29 mi south · 100% at surface
Dent County, MO 33 mi northwest · 100% at surface
Wayne County, MO 34 mi southeast · 95% at surface
Madison County, MO 35 mi east · 67% at surface

The rock underneath

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Eminence Dolomite, Potosi Dolomite (dolostone (dolomite)), Late Cambrian-Croixian Series in age, covering about 60% of the county. Next is the Gasconade Dolomite at 31%.

Against the rest of Missouri

Reynolds County ranks 26 of 115 in Missouri for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 99% of US counties on that measure.