Our models for detecting the effect of adaptation on population genomic diversity
are often predicated on a single newly arisen mutation sweeping rapidly to fixation.
However, a population can also adapt to a new situation by multiple mutations of similar
phenotypic effect that arise in parallel. These mutations can each quickly reach
intermediate frequency, preventing any single one from rapidly sweeping to fixation
globally (a "soft" sweep). Here we study models of parallel mutation in a geographically
spread population adapting to a global selection pressure. The slow geographic spread of a
selected allele can allow other selected alleles to arise and spread elsewhere in the
species range. When these different selected alleles meet, their spread can slow
dramatically, and so form a geographic patchwork which could be mistaken for a signal of
local adaptation. This random spatial tessellation will dissipate over time due to mixing
by migration, leaving a set of partial sweeps within the global population. We show that
the spatial tessellation initially formed by mutational types is closely connected to
Poisson process models of crystallization, which we extend. We find that the probability of
parallel mutation and the spatial scale on which parallel mutation occurs is captured by a
single characteristic length that reflects the expected distance a spreading allele travels
before it encounters a different spreading allele. This characteristic length depends on
the mutation rate, the dispersal parameter, the effective local density of individuals, and
to a much lesser extent the strength of selection. We argue that even in widely dispersing
species, such parallel geographic sweeps may be surprisingly common. Thus, we predict, as
more data becomes available, many more examples of intra-species parallel adaptation will
be uncovered.