It's not a creek. Sheesh.
If we find Jimmy Hoffa's bones embedded in the middle of a piece of concrete poured on April 23, 1975, when was Jimmy Hoffa deposited there?
Honest, I was in London that day and I have papers to prove it.
The question is not when was Jimmy Hoffa was deposited in the cement, but which is older. In this case, it would be Jimmy Hoffa. Your example lacks credibility inasmuch as (it is assumed) the depositions encasing fossils typically took place over long periods of time as opposed to a sudden application of Ready Mix.
I understand the fossil record to be chiefly, but not completely, a record denoting a wordwide deluge: catastrophic with long lasting results. This is partly because I assume the biblical texts to be authoritative and accurate. There is nothing about those texts to suggest they were spun out of human imagination in a desire to convince ourselves and those around us of some higher purpose. They rather read as a text given from outside human reason and experience in order to reveal what we by nature cannot imagine.
Unless and until those who espouse an old earth are willing to admit up front what are their assumptions I will remain skeptical of their claims. At the same time, I do not consider their understanding to be preposterous by any means. My own assumptions and understandings are not above reproach. They are not without evidence either.