What soils cause foundation problems in northwest Oklahoma?

Reviewed by Preston, Oklahoma foundation repair consultant · Updated 2026-10-14

In short: Northwest Oklahoma is drier than the rest of the state's center and is built on Permian red beds — claystone, siltstone and soft sandstone — with gypsum and salt layers that can dissolve and form sinkholes ¹³⁴. Clay soils such as Vernon have very slow permeability over dense claystone, loamy soils such as Woodward and Quinlan sit on soft rock within a few feet, and wind-blown Tivoli sands form dunes along river valleys ³⁴⁵⁶.

Cities covered: Woodward, Alva, Watonga, Weatherford and Elk City.

What is the climate like?

USDA descriptions for the area's main soils list mean annual precipitation of about 20 to 30 inches, typically near 25 inches, and mean annual temperatures of about 57 to 65 °F ³⁴⁵. Oklahoma's climate grades from humid in the east to semi-arid in the west ⁷, and this region is on the dry side, so soils can dry deeply during long droughts. See drought and wet cycles.

What is the ground made of?

USDA maps most of this area within the Central Rolling Red Plains land resource area ³⁴.

Gypsum and salt (karst)

The Oklahoma Geological Survey reports that gypsum and shallow salt deposits occur in many areas of western Oklahoma, and that water-soluble rocks — including gypsum, anhydrite and salt — can dissolve in circulating groundwater to form sinkholes and caverns that cause settlement or collapse ¹. USGS notes that sinkholes can open suddenly where the overlying soil is clay-rich and that changes in drainage and heavy loads can trigger them ². See Permian gypsum units, gypsum karst and sinkholes and karst subsidence.

Red-bed clays

Vernon soils are moderately deep, well drained clays weathered from Permian red-bed claystone, with dense claystone at 20 to 40 inches and very slow permeability ³. Lower layers can contain up to 2 percent gypsum, measurable soluble salts and rising sodium with depth ³. Slopes range up to 45 percent on escarpments ³. See western Permian red beds.

Loamy soils on soft sandstone and siltstone

• Woodward: moderately deep, well drained loamy soils over soft Permian sandstone or siltstone at 20 to 40 inches, mainly in the Marlow, Rush Springs, Cloud Chief and Quartermaster formations; some have thin gypsum seams in the bedrock ⁴.
• Quinlan: shallow soils with soft sandstone or siltstone at 10 to 20 inches, on hillslopes, ridges and escarpments with slopes up to 50 percent ⁵.

Dune sands

Tivoli soils are very deep, excessively drained sands deposited by wind, forming hummocky dunes on sand sheets and stream terraces with slopes of 1 to 45 percent. The series was established in Major County and its type location is in Woodward County ⁶.

Which soils are most common?

What are the common foundation problems?

• Karst subsidence and sinkholes where gypsum or salt lies at shallow depth.
• Perimeter drying settlement on Vernon clays during long droughts.
• Settlement and erosion problems on loose sands and steep escarpments.

Where unexplained, progressive settlement occurs in an area with mapped gypsum, a subsurface investigation is the usual first step before repair.

Related

• Gypsum Karst and Sinkholes
• Permian Gypsum Units (e.g., Blaine)
• Western Permian Red Beds
• Panhandle (High Plains)
• Southwest (Lawton & Red Plains)