Condensed Consolidating Financial Information - Condensed Cash Flow Statement (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2014	Jun. 30, 2013
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities	$ 76,738	$ 43,377
Cash flows from investing activities:
Cash invested in multi-client data library	(34,317)	(48,599)
Purchase of property, plant, equipment and seismic rental equipment	(4,543)	(8,963)
Repayment of advances to INOVA Geophysical	1,000	0
Investment in and advances to OceanGeo B.V.	(3,683)	(9,500)
Proceeds from sale of a cost-method investment	0	4,150
Cash of OceanGeo B.V. upon acquiring a controlling interest	609	0
Net proceeds from sale of Source product line	14,394	0
Investment in convertible notes	0	(2,000)
Capital contribution to affiliate		0
Other investing activities	605	76
Net cash used in investing activities	(25,935)	(64,836)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Proceeds from issuance of notes	0	175,000
Payments under revolving line of credit	(50,000)	(97,250)
Borrowings under revolving line of credit	15,000	0
Payments on notes payable and long-term debt	(5,595)	(1,815)
Cost associated with issuance of notes	0	(6,731)
Capital contribution from affiliate		0
Intercompany lending	0	0
Payment of preferred dividends	0	(676)
Proceeds from employee stock purchases and exercise of stock options	340	1,972
Other financing activities	(679)	302
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities	(40,934)	70,802
Effect of change in foreign currency exchange rates on cash and cash equivalents	(146)	(813)
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	9,723	48,530
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period	148,056	60,971
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	157,779	109,501
Reportable Legal Entities [Member] | ION Geophysical Corporation [Member]
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities	57,755	(47,878)
Cash flows from investing activities:
Cash invested in multi-client data library	0	0
Purchase of property, plant, equipment and seismic rental equipment	(460)	(1,503)
Repayment of advances to INOVA Geophysical	1,000
Investment in and advances to OceanGeo B.V.	0	0
Proceeds from sale of a cost-method investment		4,150
Cash of OceanGeo B.V. upon acquiring a controlling interest	0
Net proceeds from sale of Source product line	0
Investment in convertible notes		(2,000)
Capital contribution to affiliate		0
Other investing activities	579	0
Net cash used in investing activities	1,119	647
Cash flows from financing activities:
Proceeds from issuance of notes		175,000
Payments under revolving line of credit	(50,000)	(97,250)
Borrowings under revolving line of credit	15,000
Payments on notes payable and long-term debt	(461)	0
Cost associated with issuance of notes		(6,731)
Capital contribution from affiliate		0
Intercompany lending	(46,991)	16,414
Payment of preferred dividends		(676)
Proceeds from employee stock purchases and exercise of stock options	340	1,972
Other financing activities	(679)	302
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities	(82,791)	89,031
Effect of change in foreign currency exchange rates on cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	(23,917)	41,800
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period	124,701	30,343
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	100,784	72,143
Reportable Legal Entities [Member] | The Guarantors [Member]
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities	(23,434)	69,942
Cash flows from investing activities:
Cash invested in multi-client data library	(34,203)	(46,168)
Purchase of property, plant, equipment and seismic rental equipment	(2,773)	(5,045)
Repayment of advances to INOVA Geophysical	0
Investment in and advances to OceanGeo B.V.	0	0
Proceeds from sale of a cost-method investment		0
Cash of OceanGeo B.V. upon acquiring a controlling interest	0
Net proceeds from sale of Source product line	9,881
Investment in convertible notes		0
Capital contribution to affiliate		(2,202)
Other investing activities	0	76
Net cash used in investing activities	(27,095)	(53,339)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Proceeds from issuance of notes		0
Payments under revolving line of credit	0	0
Borrowings under revolving line of credit	0
Payments on notes payable and long-term debt	(2,862)	(1,306)
Cost associated with issuance of notes		0
Capital contribution from affiliate		0
Intercompany lending	53,391	(15,297)
Payment of preferred dividends		0
Proceeds from employee stock purchases and exercise of stock options	0	0
Other financing activities	0	0
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities	50,529	(16,603)
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
Reportable Legal Entities [Member] | All Other Subsidiaries [Member]
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities	42,417	21,313
Cash flows from investing activities:
Cash invested in multi-client data library	(114)	(2,431)
Purchase of property, plant, equipment and seismic rental equipment	(1,310)	(2,415)
Repayment of advances to INOVA Geophysical	0
Investment in and advances to OceanGeo B.V.	(3,683)	(9,500)
Proceeds from sale of a cost-method investment		0
Cash of OceanGeo B.V. upon acquiring a controlling interest	609
Net proceeds from sale of Source product line	4,513
Investment in convertible notes		0
Capital contribution to affiliate		0
Other investing activities	26	0
Net cash used in investing activities	41	(14,346)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Proceeds from issuance of notes		0
Payments under revolving line of credit	0
Borrowings under revolving line of credit	0
Payments on notes payable and long-term debt	(2,272)	(509)
Cost associated with issuance of notes		0
Capital contribution from affiliate		2,202
Intercompany lending	(6,400)	(1,117)
Payment of preferred dividends		0
Proceeds from employee stock purchases and exercise of stock options	0	0
Other financing activities	0	0
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities	(8,672)	576
Effect of change in foreign currency exchange rates on cash and cash equivalents	(146)	(813)
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	33,640	6,730
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period	23,355	30,628
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	56,995	37,358
Consolidation, Eliminations [Member]
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net cash provided by (used in) 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
Proceeds from sale of a cost-method investment		0
Cash of OceanGeo B.V. upon acquiring a controlling interest	0
Net proceeds from sale of Source product line	0
Investment in convertible notes		0
Capital contribution to affiliate		2,202
Other investing activities	0	0
Net cash used in investing activities	0	2,202
Cash flows from financing activities:
Proceeds from issuance of notes		0
Payments under revolving line of credit	0
Borrowings under revolving line of credit	0
Payments on notes payable and long-term debt	0	0
Cost associated with issuance of notes		0
Capital contribution from affiliate		(2,202)
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 (used in) provided by financing activities	0	(2,202)
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
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	0	0
Consolidation, Eliminations [Member] | All Other Subsidiaries [Member]
Cash flows from financing activities:
Payments under revolving line of credit		$ 0