What does horst mean?
A horst is a raised block of the Earth's crust bounded by faults, standing above nearby land. Fault movements can lift one block while an adjacent block subsides, creating a landscape of alternating elevated horsts and depressed grabens. The term is especially common in structural geology, where it describes the geometry and movement of fault-bounded crustal blocks rather than merely a hill or mountain. Although the word can be encountered in general descriptions of mountainous and rift-zone terrain, it is more precise and specialized than words such as “mountain” or “ridge.” A horst may also be called an upstand or uplifted fault block. Its geological counterpart is the graben, a block that has dropped relative to the surrounding crust. Together, the two terms describe a common structural pattern produced by extension and faulting in the Earth's crust.
nounA horst is an uplifted block of the Earth's crust bounded by faults and standing higher than the surrounding land. It forms the raised counterpart to a graben, or down-dropped block.
- An uplifted, fault-bounded block of the Earth's crust that stands higher than the surrounding terrain.
"The uplifted horst rises above the valley floor along a series of parallel faults."
"The horst forms a prominent ridge between two adjacent grabens."
"Geologists mapped the horst as a relatively stable block bordered by active faults."
The standard plural is horstes, although the plural horsts is also encountered in geological writing.
"Several horstes divide the basin into elongated structural blocks."
A horst is a block of the world pushed upward by the planet itself.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Etymology of horst
The English geological term was borrowed from German, where Horst is associated with an elevated or projecting mass and was also used in an earlier sense meaning a wooded height or thicket. In English, the specialized geological sense developed into a name for a block of crust uplifted relative to adjacent fault-bounded blocks.
How horst is actually used
This is primarily a technical geological term. It is most often used in regional structural geology and in the established contrast between horsts and grabens.
Easily confused with horst
A horst is a raised block of the Earth's crust, whereas a forest is an area of woodland.
A horst is a geological landform, while a horse is a hoofed mammal.