OK, I am just a small town newspaper editor who happens to love science.
I also happen to live in a huge caldera.
The news about the huge volcano found under the northwest Pacific got me think about an idea that has been bothering me for years.
Hotspot volcanic zones (not associated with subduction zones).
These would include Yellowstone and Hawaii.
So my hypothesis says a huge object hit the Earth, and I mean big. Enough to rattle the crust to the mantle, thus creating the hotspot.
As the tectonic plates pass over, the hotspot appears to drift, as in Yellowstone migrating to Wyoming and the Hawaiian chain.
Does this make sense?