Maes Christophe auteur aut IRD Blanke B. auteur aut IRD text journalArticle eng text/pdf reformatted digital access Contamination of the marine environment by human-made plastic litter is a growing and global problem. Our study attempts to explain the presence of two plastic bottles beached on the Ouvéa Island, in the southwest Pacific Ocean, with trademarks from the Solomon Islands and Papua New Guinea (PNG). We simulate the oceanic drift tracks and associated transit times with a Lagrangian interpretation of the surface currents of a high-resolution ocean model. Our results show that it takes less than 2-3 months for drifting objects to connect these archipelagos (New Caledonia, Solomon Islands and PNG) and highlight the role of the meridional component of the circulation rather than the dominant zonal jets. This study shows that the origin or traceability of trash represent valuable information that can be used to test and, ultimately, improve our understanding of ocean circulation. specialized ARCHIPEL MILIEU MARIN POLLUTION MARINE OBJET TRANSPORT CIRCULATION OCEANIQUE COURANT MARIN CIRCULATION ZONALE VITESSE MODELISATION NOUVELLE CALEDONIE OUVEA MER DE CORAIL 038POLOCE 032DYNEAU 97 1-2 160-168 2015 0025-326X https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010065122 10.1016/j.marpolbul.2015.06.022 0025-326X [F B010065122] https://www.documentation.ird.fr/hor/fdi:010065122 https://horizon.documentation.ird.fr/exl-doc/pleins_textes/divers15-08/010065122.pdf IRD - Base Horizon / Pleins textes 2015-08-18 2015-10-05 fdi:010065122 fre