BUREAU DE RECHERCHES GÉOLOGIQUES ET MINIÈRES provides a dataset defining the 'massif' boundaries under France's 1985 mountain law. The data delineates areas characterized by high altitude, steep slopes, and shortened vegetation periods, including adjacent foothills and plains for spatial planning continuity. It was last updated on 2021-07-22.
Use Cases
- Delineating administrative boundaries for mountain policy implementation based on the legal criteria of altitude and slope.
- Analyzing interactions between highland and plain areas for regional planning projects based on the concept of massif continuity.
- Classifying municipalities by the intensity of their mountain character (from foothill to high mountain) for targeted development programs.
Strengths
- Based on the specific legal criteria defined in the 1985 'mountain law', including altitude thresholds (700m, 600m for Vosges, 800m for Mediterranean) and slope criteria (>20% over 80% of territory).
- Includes not only mountain areas but also adjacent foothills and plains to ensure continuity for spatial planning projects.
Limitations
- Column-level documentation is absent; field semantics must be inferred after download.
- Last updated 2021-07-22; freshness should be verified for current policy applications.
- Row count is unknown, which may limit suitability assessment for large-scale analysis.
Provenance
- Source
- BUREAU DE RECHERCHES GÉOLOGIQUES ET MINIÈRES
- Freshness
- Last updated 2021-07-22 00:00:00
- Geography
- France, specifically the Department of Tarn-et-Garonne and broader mountain massifs.