Several airborne radar-sounding surveys are used to trace internal reflections around the
European Project for Ice Coring in Antarctica Dome C and Vostok ice core sites. Thirteen reflections,
spanning the last two glacial cycles, are traced within 200 km of Dome C, a promising region for
million-year-old ice, using the University of Texas Institute for Geophysics High-Capacity Radar
Sounder. This provides a dated stratigraphy to 2318 m depth at Dome C. Reflection age uncertainties
are calculated from the radar range precision and signal-to-noise ratio of the internal reflections. The
radar stratigraphy matches well with the Multichannel Coherent Radar Depth Sounder (MCoRDS)
radar stratigraphy obtained independently. We show that radar sounding enables the extension of ice
core ages through the ice sheet with an additional radar-related age uncertainty of ∼1/3–1/2 that of
the ice cores. Reflections are extended along the Byrd-Totten Glacier divide, using University of
Texas/Technical University of Denmark and MCoRDS surveys. However, core-to-core connection is
impeded by pervasive aeolian terranes, and Lake Vostok’s influence on reflection geometry. Poor
radar connection of the two ice cores is attributed to these effects and suboptimal survey design in
affected areas. We demonstrate that, while ice sheet internal radar reflections are generally isochronal
and can be mapped over large distances, careful survey planning is necessary to extend ice core chronologies
to distant regions of the East Antarctic ice sheet.