Assets (Details 6) (USD $)	12 Months Ended			0 Months Ended
	Dec. 31, 2012	Dec. 31, 2011	Dec. 31, 2010	Mar. 15, 2012 North America
Acquired Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Acquisition and processing costs	$ 180,174,000	$ 169,881,000
Less accumulated amortization	(157,718,000)	(128,369,000)
Multi-client data library, net	22,456,000	41,512,000
Impairment charges related to multi-client data library		2,400,000
Amortization expense related to multi-client data library	53,300,000	85,000,000	38,000,000
Multi-client seismic library revenues	83,000,000	119,500,000	71,100,000
Cash consideration for North American seismic data sold				10,000,000
Loss on sale of seismic data				$ 5,100,000
Time period to retain revenue for seismic data sold				5 years