A thrust fault is a particular type of fault, or breach in the fabric of the Earth's crust with resulting movement of each side against the other, in which one side is pushed up higher than the other (thus, creating compression) and somewhat over it. The resulting cliff is termed a fault scarp. Another name for thrust faults is reverse faults; a normal fault is similar but results from separation, with one side dropping lower than the other.
Thrust faults may result in mountain ranges. The Himalayas are the most prominent such mountain range in the world. As the Indian subcontinent is currently colliding with the rest of Asia. The precursors of the Appalachian Mountains are another example, created by the collision of the northern African plate with North America. The Appalachians, of course, are much worn from their previous elevations; the eastern coastal plain, and the Cumberland and Allegheny Plateaus to the west were built of sediments from the original Appalachians.
