A tentative chronology for the EPICA Dome Concordia ice core

A tentative age scale (EDC1) for the last 45 kyr is established for the new 788-m EPICA Dome C ice core using a simple ice flow model. The age of volcanic eruptions, the end of the Younger Dryas event, and the estimated depth and age of elevated Be-10, about 41 kyr ago were used to calibrate the model parameters. The uncertainty of EDC1 is estimated to +/- 10 yr for 0 to 700 yr BP, up to +/- 200 yr back to 10 kyr BP, and up to +/- 2 kyr back to 41 kyr BP. The age of the air in the bubbles is calculated with a firn densification model. In the Holocene the air is about 2000 yr younger than the ice and about 5500 yr during the last glacial maximum.