Condensed Consolidating Financial Information - Condensed Cash Flow Statement (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended
	Mar. 31, 2014	Mar. 31, 2013
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net cash provided by operating activities	$ 62,682	$ 49,591
Cash flows from investing activities:
Cash invested in multi-client data library	(22,353)	(28,778)
Purchase of property, plant, equipment and seismic rental equipment	(1,997)	(3,774)
Repayment of advances to INOVA Geophysical	1,000	0
Investment in and advances to OceanGeo B.V.	(3,683)	(9,500)
Cash of OceanGeo B.V. upon acquiring a controlling interest	609	0
Investment in convertible notes	0	(1,000)
Other investing activities	605	76
Net cash used in investing activities	(25,819)	(42,976)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Borrowings under revolving line of credit	15,000	0
Payments on notes payable and long-term debt	(2,755)	(848)
Intercompany lending	0	0
Payment of preferred dividends	0	(338)
Proceeds from employee stock purchases and exercise of stock options	246	716
Other financing activities	(80)	350
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities	12,411	(120)
Effect of change in foreign currency exchange rates on cash and cash equivalents	(24)	(891)
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	49,250	5,604
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period	148,056	60,971
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	197,306	66,575
Reportable Legal Entities [Member] | ION Geophysical Corporation [Member]
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net cash provided by operating activities	15,105	16,769
Cash flows from investing activities:
Cash invested in multi-client data library	0	0
Purchase of property, plant, equipment and seismic rental equipment	(551)	0
Repayment of advances to INOVA Geophysical	1,000
Investment in and advances to OceanGeo B.V.	0	(8,000)
Cash of OceanGeo B.V. upon acquiring a controlling interest	0
Investment in convertible notes		(1,000)
Other investing activities	579	0
Net cash used in investing activities	1,028	(9,000)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Borrowings under revolving line of credit	15,000
Payments on notes payable and long-term debt	0	0
Intercompany lending	(1,155)	(26,286)
Payment of preferred dividends		(338)
Proceeds from employee stock purchases and exercise of stock options	246	716
Other financing activities	(80)	350
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities	14,011	(25,558)
Effect of change in foreign currency exchange rates on cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	30,144	(17,789)
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period	124,701	30,343
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	154,845	12,554
Reportable Legal Entities [Member] | The Guarantors [Member]
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net cash provided by operating activities	19,989	7,813
Cash flows from investing activities:
Cash invested in multi-client data library	(22,299)	(13,076)
Purchase of property, plant, equipment and seismic rental equipment	(1,230)	(3,774)
Repayment of advances to INOVA Geophysical	0
Investment in and advances to OceanGeo B.V.	0	0
Cash of OceanGeo B.V. upon acquiring a controlling interest	0
Investment in convertible notes		0
Other investing activities	26	0
Net cash used in investing activities	(23,503)	(16,850)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Borrowings under revolving line of credit	0
Payments on notes payable and long-term debt	(1,365)	(597)
Intercompany lending	6,418	9,634
Payment of preferred dividends		0
Proceeds from employee stock purchases and exercise of stock options	0	0
Other financing activities	0	0
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities	5,053	9,037
Effect of change in foreign currency exchange rates on cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	1,539	0
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period	0	0
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	1,539	0
Reportable Legal Entities [Member] | All Other Subsidiaries [Member]
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net cash provided by operating activities	27,588	25,009
Cash flows from investing activities:
Cash invested in multi-client data library	(54)	(15,702)
Purchase of property, plant, equipment and seismic rental equipment	(216)	0
Repayment of advances to INOVA Geophysical	0
Investment in and advances to OceanGeo B.V.	(3,683)	(1,500)
Cash of OceanGeo B.V. upon acquiring a controlling interest	609
Investment in convertible notes		0
Other investing activities	0	76
Net cash used in investing activities	(3,344)	(17,126)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Borrowings under revolving line of credit	0
Payments on notes payable and long-term debt	(1,390)	(251)
Intercompany lending	(5,263)	16,652
Payment of preferred dividends		0
Proceeds from employee stock purchases and exercise of stock options	0	0
Other financing activities	0	0
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities	(6,653)	16,401
Effect of change in foreign currency exchange rates on cash and cash equivalents	(24)	(891)
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	17,567	23,393
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period	23,355	30,628
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	40,922	54,021
Consolidation, Eliminations [Member]
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net cash provided by operating activities	0	0
Cash flows from investing activities:
Cash invested in multi-client data library	0	0
Purchase of property, plant, equipment and seismic rental equipment	0	0
Repayment of advances to INOVA Geophysical	0
Investment in and advances to OceanGeo B.V.	0	0
Cash of OceanGeo B.V. upon acquiring a controlling interest	0
Investment in convertible notes		0
Other investing activities	0	0
Net cash used in investing activities	0	0
Cash flows from financing activities:
Borrowings under revolving line of credit	0
Payments on notes payable and long-term debt	0	0
Intercompany lending	0	0
Payment of preferred dividends		0
Proceeds from employee stock purchases and exercise of stock options	0	0
Other financing activities	0	0
Net cash provided by (used in) financing activities	0	0
Effect of change in foreign currency exchange rates on cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period	0	0
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	$ 0	$ 0