Mulch on soil surface can reduce soil evaporation, which is of important significance to soil water conservation. Based on the principle of sensible heat balance, effect of gravel mulch on evaporation from the near-surface soil layer was explored. Using the heat pulse technology, measurement and calculation was done of soil evaporation rate, sensible heat flux, difference in sensible heat flux between the upper and lower layers, the latent heat of vaporization, and change in sensible heat storage. Results show that the sensible heat flux and the difference in sensible heat flux between the upper layer and lower layer was lower in soil under gravel mulch than in bare soil. As compared with the latter, the former did not show much change in sensible heat storage in the near-surface soil layer, so of the 3～9mm, 15～21mm and 27～33mm soil layer, p value of the t test was 0.439, 0.100 and 0.096, respectively, all > 0.05; the sensible heat flux was decreasing with the p value of the t test of the soils at 3mm, 15mm and 27mm, being 0, 0 and 0.005, respectively, all < 0.05; the difference between the upper and lower parts of a soil layer in sensible heat flux was narrowing with the p value of the t test of the 3～9mm and 15～21mm soil layers, being both 0<0.05 and of the 27~33mm soil layer, being 0.059>0.05; the latent heat of vaporization was increasing with the p value of the t test of the 3～9mm, 15～21mm and 27～33mm soil layers, all being 0<0.05; as the energy used for soil evaporation was decreasing, soil evaporation rate was also declining with the p value of the t test of the 3～9mm and 15～21mm soil layers being both 0<0.05 and of the 27～33mm soil layer being 0.100>0.05. The soil evaporation rate changed in the same way as the soil sensible heat flux did. Compared with bare soil, the gravel-mulched soil would have delayed peaks of soil evaporation rate and difference between the upper and lower parts of the soil layer in sensible heat flux. In the 3～9mm and 15～21mm soil layers, the peaks would appear 2 days later than that in the bare soil. Therefore, mulching of gravel on the land surface may affect soil evaporation, which is mainly embodied in reduction of soil evaporation rate and delay of the appearance of its peak.