Sinkhole risk in Texas 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%

What to do about a house in Texas County

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

That works out to roughly 1,177 of Texas County's 1,177 square miles on soluble rock, 1,177 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 25,715 residents (22 per square mile), there is effectively nowhere in the county off the soluble rock, town or country. The figures come from 375 map points about 1.8 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 Texas County

The closest county with no soluble rock mapped is Clay County, AR, about 108 miles southeast. 6 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Wright County, MO 29 mi west · 100% at surface
Dent County, MO 33 mi northeast · 100% at surface
Shannon County, MO 33 mi east · 99% at surface
Howell County, MO 38 mi south · 100% at surface
Pulaski County, MO 38 mi north · 100% at surface
Phelps County, MO 39 mi north · 100% at surface

What Texas County is built on

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 62% of the county. Next is the Roubidoux Formation at 34%.

Against the rest of Missouri

Texas County ranks 18 of 115 in Missouri for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 99% of US counties on that measure.