  Chondrules are mm-sized spherules found throughout primitive, chondritic
meteorites. Flash heating by a shock front is the leading explanation of their
formation. However, identifying a mechanism for creating shock fronts inside
the solar nebula has been difficult. In a gaseous disk capable of forming
Jupiter, the disk must have been marginally gravitationally unstable at and
beyond Jupiter's orbit. We show that this instability can drive inward spiral
shock fronts with shock speeds of up to about 10 km/s at asteroidal orbits,
sufficient to account for chondrule formation. Mixing and transport of solids
in such a disk, combined with the planet-forming tendencies of gravitational
instabilities, results in a unified scenario linking chondrite production with
gas giant planet formation.
