Only in a completely unscientific attempt to shoehorn the geological column into a Young Earth viewpoint is it not required.
Every culture on the planet has a floor story at the beginning; this does not prove the Noahdic flood but does allow for it.
If the entire world was covered with water all tore up from the fountains beneath and the clouds above, how would the sediment settle?
I think that the layers are caused by the settling of heavier pieces first. This also would explain the few areas where a petrified tree spanned multiple layers.
Science is observable = consensus is not science.