According to the neo-Darwinian synthesis, evolution is a very gradual process of change which proceeds over hundreds of millions, or billions, of years. Thus, with these assumptions, in the fossil record we would expect to see a record of change such that transitional forms connect ancestors with descendants. The process of sediment deposition should have been very slow indeed.

Expectations from the creation model are entirely different. The sedimentary rocks containing the fossils, are interpreted as having been laid down very quickly as a result of catastrophic erosion and raging flood waters. Before the cataclysm, the preflood communities were contemporary, no matter their level of occurrence in the rocks. Their order of burial in the sedimentary rocks depended upon the elevation of their habitat and other details such as the response of tectonic plates to the turmoil. The lack of transitional forms and the very sophisticated character of the creatures in the low lying communities such as Cambrian rocks, are evidence in favour of the creation model.

The bottom line is that the fossil record is interpreted either to have been laid down very slowly or very quickly.  Any observations which provide clues as to the rate of deposition, are very important contributors to the issue.