Over the last decade, there has been growing recognition that cold-based glaciers are active geomorphic agents that interact with the substrate and modify the surrounding landscape. Recent field studies at both high and low elevations in the Dry Valleys of Antarctica have provided evidence of erosion and deposition by cold-based glaciers and their ice marginal melt water.  Other empirical studies have significantly advanced understanding of the chemical composition and complex mechanical behaviour of ice at the base of cold-based glaciers and the interaction on various substrates. These insights into how cold-based glaciers interact with the landscape have led to the reinterpretation of landforms and glacial histories in areas previously covered by cold based glaciers in both the Arctic and Antarctic. Furthermore, several researchers have used the landforms now associated with cold-based glaciers to interpret similar landforms on Mars.