Sinkhole risk in Wayne County, MO: Sinkhole country

Sinkhole country

Soluble rock at or near the surface across much of the county.

On soluble rock: 95%
At or near the surface: 95%
Buried under cover: 0%

What to do about a house in Wayne County

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

That works out to roughly 724 of Wayne County's 759 square miles on soluble rock, 724 of them with the rock at or near the surface. With about 10,820 residents (14 per square mile), there is effectively nowhere in the county off the soluble rock, town or country. The figures come from 304 map points about 1.6 miles apart, so a pocket smaller than that can be missed or overstated.

Counties around Wayne County

The closest county with no soluble rock mapped is Clay County, AR, about 51 miles south. 4 of the 6 closest counties land in the same band, so this is a regional pattern rather than a local quirk.

Madison County, MO 26 mi north · 67% at surface
Butler County, MO 27 mi south · 44% at surface
Bollinger County, MO 28 mi northeast · 91% at surface
Carter County, MO 29 mi southwest · 100% at surface
Stoddard County, MO 33 mi southeast · 3% at surface
Reynolds County, MO 34 mi northwest · 98% at surface

Which formation it is

The largest mapped soluble unit here is the Roubidoux Formation (sandstone), Early Ordovician-Ibexian Series in age, covering about 47% of the county. Next is the Eminence Dolomite, Potosi Dolomite at 25%.

Against the rest of Missouri

Wayne County ranks 34 of 115 in Missouri for soluble rock at the surface, and sits above 98% of US counties on that measure.