Sinkhole risk in Utah County, UT: Pockets of it

Pockets of it

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

On soluble rock: 22%
At or near the surface: 22%
Buried under cover: 0%

The next step for one property

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 445 of Utah County's 2,004 square miles on soluble rock, 445 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 747,234 residents (373 per square mile), homes are spread across towns and farmland, and a mapped unit may or may not reach the developed parts. The figures come from 553 map points about 1.9 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 Utah County

The nearest county rated sinkhole country is Emery County, UT, about 92 miles southeast. 1 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band; the ground changes quickly around here.

Wasatch County, UT 31 mi northeast · 18% at surface
Salt Lake County, UT 40 mi north · 15% at surface
Sanpete County, UT 52 mi south · 14% at surface
Summit County, UT 64 mi northeast · 6% at surface
Carbon County, UT 65 mi southeast · 0% at surface
Juab County, UT 66 mi southwest · 11% at surface

The rock underneath

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Pennsylvanian and Permian sedimentary rocks in central Utah (sandstone), Pennsylvanian to Permian in age, covering about 14% of the county. Next is the Mississippian (2) sedimentary rocks in central Utah at 4%.

The county also lies over the Sevire Valley, a deep salt or gypsum basin. Deep beds rarely cause surface collapse on their own, but wells and mining into them have.

Against the rest of Utah

Utah County ranks 3 of 29 in Utah for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 76% of US counties on that measure.