"Believe it or not the Capricorn Caves are very similar to those in Poland around 60 or 70 million years ago."
It may sound strange, but it's this fun little fact that has prompted two of Europe's leading karst and geomorphology experts to shed the winter woollies and ply their trade right here in the tropics.
Along with Associate Professor Armstrong Osborne from Sydney University, Bojan Otonicar from the Karst Research Institute in Slovenia and Andrzey Tyc from the University of Silesia in Poland have the spent the past two weeks studying various cave and karst formations at the Capricorn Caves.
As part of a joint three year study, the trio hope to shed a little more light on exactly how these magnificent chambers were formed and indeed how they'll be shaped by the elements in the future.
Professor Osborne said they were looking for caves that boast similar landscapes and features to some European caves, but in a vastly different climatic setting.
"The caves we are looking at in Poland are about 50 degrees north while the Capricorn Caves lie on the Tropic of Capricorn... so it's fair to say that Poland and Central Queensland are quite different!" he laughed.
But here is where it really gets interesting.
"Our work is based on the theory that caves were formed from water travelling from bottom to top, rather than top to bottom rather than the other way around."
Meaning that the long held belief that the caves were formed by rain water trickling through cracks and crevices and slowly dissolving the limestone could in fact be somewhat upside down.
"That's the theory so we're looking at and measuring features that might show which direction the water moved, geological structures and things like that," Professor Osborne said.
For his European counterparts, the three week sojourn is also a chance to soak up some Central Queensland sun!
"I'm enjoying the warm temperatures," Bojan said.
"It's probably very close to zero degrees in Slovenia right now so it's nice to be able work in a t-shirt!"
The trio will continue their study in Poland next June.
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