Selected Asset Information (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended		9 Months Ended				1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended	3 Months Ended		1 Months Ended				9 Months Ended				9 Months Ended				9 Months Ended				9 Months Ended				9 Months Ended				9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2011	Sep. 30, 2012	Sep. 30, 2011	Mar. 15, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Aug. 31, 2011 Whitebox Revolving Credit Facility	Dec. 31, 2011 Whitebox Revolving Credit Facility	Jun. 30, 2011 Interest expense	Jun. 30, 2011 Other income	Mar. 31, 2012 North America	Mar. 15, 2012 North America item	Sep. 30, 2012 Field operating equipment	Dec. 31, 2011 Field operating equipment	Sep. 30, 2012 Field operating equipment Minimum	Sep. 30, 2012 Field operating equipment Maximum	Sep. 30, 2012 Vehicles	Dec. 31, 2011 Vehicles	Sep. 30, 2012 Vehicles Minimum	Sep. 30, 2012 Vehicles Maximum	Sep. 30, 2012 Buildings and improvements	Dec. 31, 2011 Buildings and improvements	Sep. 30, 2012 Buildings and improvements Minimum	Sep. 30, 2012 Buildings and improvements Maximum	Sep. 30, 2012 Software	Dec. 31, 2011 Software	Sep. 30, 2012 Software Minimum	Sep. 30, 2012 Software Maximum	Sep. 30, 2012 Data processing equipment	Dec. 31, 2011 Data processing equipment	Sep. 30, 2012 Data processing equipment Minimum	Sep. 30, 2012 Data processing equipment Maximum	Sep. 30, 2012 Furniture and equipment	Dec. 31, 2011 Furniture and equipment	Sep. 30, 2012 Furniture and equipment Minimum	Sep. 30, 2012 Furniture and equipment Maximum	Sep. 30, 2012 Assets under construction	Dec. 31, 2011 Assets under construction
Restricted Cash
Cash held in trust	$ 100,000		$ 100,000			$ 200,000
Sales of Certain Accounts Receivable
Reference rate			LIBOR
Percentage points added to reference rate			5.00%
Proceeds from sale of accounts receivable	51,200,000	5,100,000	128,600,000	50,400,000
Loss on sale of accounts receivable	100,000		300,000	200,000
Property and Equipment, Net
Property and equipment before accumulated depreciation and assets under construction	435,985,000		435,985,000			445,640,000							316,450,000	318,530,000			71,485,000	76,849,000			8,219,000	10,948,000			26,230,000	25,554,000			9,677,000	9,765,000			3,924,000	3,994,000
Less: accumulated depreciation	(270,864,000)		(270,864,000)			(235,281,000)
Property and equipment, net, excluding asset under construction	165,121,000		165,121,000			210,359,000
Property and equipment, net	167,362,000		167,362,000			212,636,000																															2,241,000	2,277,000
Estimated Useful Life															3 years	10 years			3 years	10 years			6 years	39 years			3 years	5 years			3 years	5 years			3 years	5 years
Depreciation expense	17,100,000	16,100,000	52,700,000	52,200,000
Gain on exchange of asset											3,900,000
North American seismic data
Cash consideration for North American seismic data sold					10,000,000							10,000,000
3D North American seismic data sold (in miles)												4,751
2D North American seismic data sold (in linear miles)												644
Percentage of net revenues generated and collected on seismic data which will be retained until the earlier of such time as the entity receives a total of $2.0 million in net revenues or March 7, 2017											75.00%
Amount of net revenues as a basis for determining percentage of net revenues generated and collected on seismic data to be retained											2,000,000
Percentage of net revenues generated and collected on seismic data which will be retained if the Company receives $2.0 million in net revenues prior to March 7, 2017											50.00%
Proceeds from sale of North American seismic data											10,000,000
Gain (loss) on sale of North American Seismic Data											5,100,000
Multi-client seismic library
Acquisition and processing costs	170,190,000		170,190,000			169,119,000
Less accumulated amortization	(139,472,000)		(139,472,000)			(127,607,000)
Multi-client data library, net	30,718,000		30,718,000			41,512,000
Amortization expense related to multi-client data library	5,900,000	32,000,000	35,800,000	71,400,000
Deferred Financing Costs
Balance at the beginning of the period			12,987,000	11,794,000
Capitalized			784,000	6,356,000			5,900,000	500,000
Amortized	1,000,000	800,000	(3,063,000)	(2,277,000)
Write-offs				(2,001,000)					1,100,000	1,100,000
Balance at the end of the period	$ 10,708,000	$ 13,872,000	$ 10,708,000	$ 13,872,000