Sinkhole risk in Taos 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: 19%
At or near the surface: 19%
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 416 of Taos County's 2,202 square miles on soluble rock, 416 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 34,482 residents (16 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 265 map points about 2.9 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Counties around Taos County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Briscoe County, TX, about 287 miles southeast. 1 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

Costilla County, CO 50 mi north · 0% at surface
Conejos County, CO 53 mi northwest · 0% at surface
Colfax County, NM 55 mi east · 6% at surface
Mora County, NM 57 mi southeast · 19% at surface
Rio Arriba County, NM 59 mi west · 6% at surface
Los Alamos County, NM 61 mi southwest · 0% at surface

The rock underneath

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Permain and Pennsylvanian rocks, undivided (medium-grained mixed clastic), Permain and Pennsylvanian in age, covering about 17% of the county. Next is the Santa Fe Group at 2%.

Against the rest of New Mexico

Taos County ranks 11 of 33 in New Mexico for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 74% of US counties on that measure.