Recent mapping of the surficial deposits in the Kuiseb Valley west of the Escarpment has facilitated a reappraisal of the Cenozoic succession of that region. It is suggested that the Kuiseb River has been an effective northern boundary to the main Namib Sand Sea for at least the duration of the Quaternary except along the immediate coastal tract where the high energy, unidirectional south-southwesterly wind regime is dominant. Keywords: Namibia, Namib Desert, Kuiseb River, Kamberg formation, Karpfenkliff formation, Oswater conglomerate, Tsondab formation, Homeb formation, desert geomorphology, palaeoclimate, fluvial activity, sedimentation, Quaternary, desert geology ACCESSION NUMBER: 560.909'68 VOG.