Transverse relaxation time spectra T-2 were studied for the samples (a) of wet coal in which methane hydrate was obtained, (b) wet coal exposed under the pressure of methane without the formation of the hydrate, and (c) initial wet coal. In all these cases, the samples of wet coal contained only water adsorbed in the fine pores of the coal substance. It was demonstrated that hydrate formation and the competitive sorption of methane at the positions previously occupied by water causes replacement of a part of water from coal mesopores into larger pores. The data obtained confirm a previously proposed multistage model (Smirnov et al., 2018) of hydrate formation in natural coal, which includes the stages of replacement of a part of sorbed water from coal pores by gas, the formation of microscopic water fragments in larger coal pores, and the formation of hydrate from this water.
