La Brea? – Missouri Has a Staggering 16,000 Confirmed Sinkholes?

Here's one of those numbers that is hard to wrap your brain around. 16,000. That's a lot of anything, especially when it's the number of confirmed sinkholes in Missouri. How can that be true? Spoiler alert - it is.

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I saw Fox 2 in St. Louis reference an interview with a geology professor at the University of Missouri by My Mo Info. It was in regards to the number of sinkholes that have been mapped in the state. The number given is at least 16,000. So you're saying there are likely even more sinkholes that we don't know about?

Here's one of the maps showing where the Earth is open in Missouri for lack of a better way of putting it.

There's another provided by the Missouri Spatial Data Information Service. All those tiny blue dots are sinkholes.

This is what started my Missouri sinkhole journey which included a fun moment around 6 years ago when a huge sinkhole appeared in a Missouri golf course.

It's not surprising at all when you think about all of the soft rock that makes up the geology of Missouri. Lots of caves and lots of limestone means plenty of opportunities for the Earth to open and you suddenly have the setting for the TV series La Brea in real life.

It's moments like this where I wish I had paid more attention in geology class. All I understand is that 16,000 is a big number especially when you're talking about holes in the state of Missouri.