Sinkhole risk in Socorro County, NM: Pockets of it

Pockets of it

Soluble rock at the surface or under thin cover in part of the county.

On soluble rock: 23%
At or near the surface: 23%
Buried under cover: 0%

What this means before you buy

Check the parcel against your state survey sinkhole map, and ask for an inspection if cracks, depressions or sticking doors show up.

That works out to roughly 1,535 of Socorro County's 6,646 square miles on soluble rock, 1,535 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 15,967 residents (2 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 346 map points about 4.4 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Worth reading for this county: why gypsum and salt move faster than limestone, and the signs to look for and how an inspection works.

Counties around Socorro County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Eddy County, NM, about 185 miles southeast. 3 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

Valencia County, NM 51 mi north · 13% at surface
Sierra County, NM 62 mi south · 16% at surface
Torrance County, NM 71 mi northeast · 28% at surface
Bernalillo County, NM 75 mi north · 6% at surface
Catron County, NM 84 mi west · 1% at surface
Lincoln County, NM 87 mi east · 65% at surface

What Socorro County is built on

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the San Andres Formation (carbonate), Permian in age, covering about 7% of the county. Next is the Yesa Formation at 6%.

8% of the county sits on gypsum or salt, which dissolves in years rather than millennia. That share matters more than its size suggests.

Against the rest of New Mexico

Socorro County ranks 9 of 33 in New Mexico for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 76% of US counties on that measure.