I studied alongside mining engineers during my days at Crazy Go Nuts University, and yeah, they were into some pretty weird stuff.
But seriously…
I’ll leave the explaining to the Kentucky Geological Survey:
“Kinks” and “kink zones” are fracture zones that form after mining, usually along the center of an entry, from compressive forces that cause the immediate roof strata (in shale roofs) to impinge upon each other or “kink.”