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An environmental chamber was used to simulate a 24-h cycle of rock surface temperature and relative humidity, a stone pavement with differing levels of sodium chloride content, and differing levels of fog precipitation to assess some of the controls of rock weathering in the vicinity of Swakopmund in the Namib Desert. The rock employed was Cretaceous Chalk.. Some treatments were effective at causing disintegration after 76 temperature/humidity cycles and 10 fog cycles. Small amounts of fog moisture (0.5 mm per event) were associated with the greatest amounts of breakdown, whereas the amount of salt in the simulated pavements appeared to be of less significance. The experiment showed that sodium chloride can be an effective agent of weathering in a coastal foggy environment. (C) 1998 Academic Press.