  Associative submanifolds of the 7-sphere S^7 are 3-dimensional minimal
submanifolds which are the links of calibrated 4-dimensional cones in R^8
called Cayley cones. Examples of associative 3-folds are thus given by the
links of complex and special Lagrangian cones in C^4, as well as Lagrangian
submanifolds of the nearly K\"ahler 6-sphere.
  By classifying the associative group orbits, we exhibit the first known
explicit example of an associative 3-fold in S^7 which does not arise from
other geometries. We then study associative 3-folds satisfying the curvature
constraint known as Chen's equality, which is equivalent to a natural pointwise
condition on the second fundamental form, and describe them using a new family
of pseudoholomorphic curves in the Grassmannian of 2-planes in R^8 and
isotropic minimal surfaces in S^6. We also prove that associative 3-folds which
are ruled by geodesic circles, like minimal surfaces in space forms, admit
families of local isometric deformations. Finally, we construct associative
3-folds satisfying Chen's equality which have an S^1-family of global isometric
deformations using harmonic 2-spheres in S^6.
