The answer is no! First, each sedimentary rock layer containing fossils had to have formed rapidly because that’s the only way the fossils would have been preserved. Second, upper layers formed soon after the lower ones were deposited, since there is no sign of erosion in the razor-sharp contacts between them. Therefore, whole sections of the rock column were deposited in rapid succession, as would be expected in a widespread watery cataclysm. Genesis describes the year-long process of Flood waters increasing, prevailing, and then assuaging, eventually snuffing out all land vertebrates not protected on the Ark.
The fossil record is replete with evidence of soft parts, such as worm or clam bodies and burrows, as well as original soft tissues! Creatures with soft bodies or tissues would need to be fossilized within a shorter timeframe than it would take for them to decay. These fossils and other rock features have convinced mainstream geologists to reduce the amount of time involved when interpreting a single rock layer.
Many now recognize that each layer was borne of a high-energy watery event. The contacts between strata often look “razor sharp,”5 are very flat, and extend for many square miles.
If each fossil-filled layer formed rapidly, and if there is very little time between each layer, then rocks and fossils developed within a relatively short timeframe. Christians should be encouraged to look at the rocks and fossils themselves and compare them with the biblical record, instead of relying on “a majority of authorities” who write their own world history apart from that given by the highest ranking authority.
(extracted from Brian Thomas, "The Stones Cry Out: What Rocks and Fossils Say about the Age of the Earth", Acts & Facts, January 2011, Institute of Creation Research)
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