Sinkhole risk in Taney 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 632 of Taney County's 632 square miles on soluble rock, 632 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 56,744 residents (90 per square mile), there is effectively nowhere in the county off the soluble rock, town or country. The figures come from 390 map points about 1.3 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Counties around Taney County

The closest county with no soluble rock mapped is Johnson County, AR, about 78 miles south. 6 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Christian County, MO 24 mi north · 98% at surface
Stone County, MO 24 mi west · 100% at surface
Boone County, AR 24 mi south · 83% at surface
Ozark County, MO 32 mi east · 100% at surface
Marion County, AR 33 mi southeast · 94% at surface
Carroll County, AR 35 mi southwest · 81% 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 91% of the county. Next is the Osagean Series at 5%.

Against the rest of Missouri

Taney County ranks 17 of 115 in Missouri for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 99% of US counties on that measure.