Condensed Consolidating Financial Information - Condensed Cash Flow Statement (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	9 Months Ended
	Sep. 30, 2014	Sep. 30, 2013
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities	$ 86,976	$ 78,515
Cash flows from investing activities:
Cash invested in multi-client data library	(57,340)	(86,346)
Purchase of property, plant, equipment and seismic rental equipment	(6,842)	(13,539)
Repayment of advances to INOVA Geophysical	1,000	(8,000)
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	928	76
Net cash used in investing activities	(50,934)	(115,159)
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	(11,737)	(3,296)
Cost associated with issuance of notes	(2,126)	(6,731)
Capital contribution from affiliate	0	0
Intercompany lending	0	0
Payment of preferred dividends		(6,014)
Acquisition of non-controlling interest	(6,000)	0
Proceeds from employee stock purchases and exercise of stock options	577	2,367
Other financing activities	(154)	790
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities	(54,440)	64,866
Effect of change in foreign currency exchange rates on cash and cash equivalents	189	(608)
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	(18,209)	27,614
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period	148,056	60,971
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	129,847	88,585
Reportable Legal Entities [Member] | ION Geophysical Corporation [Member]
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities	(40,896)	(46,655)
Cash flows from investing activities:
Cash invested in multi-client data library	0	0
Purchase of property, plant, equipment and seismic rental equipment	(1,501)	(1,965)
Repayment of advances to INOVA Geophysical	1,000	(8,000)
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		(5,695)
Other investing activities	579	0
Net cash used in investing activities	78	(13,510)
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	0	0
Cost associated with issuance of notes	(2,126)	(6,731)
Capital contribution from affiliate	0	0
Intercompany lending	37,114	2,371
Payment of preferred dividends		(6,014)
Acquisition of non-controlling interest	0
Proceeds from employee stock purchases and exercise of stock options	577	2,367
Other financing activities	(154)	790
Net cash (used in) provided by financing activities	411	70,533
Effect of change in foreign currency exchange rates on cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	(40,407)	10,368
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period	124,701	30,343
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	84,294	40,711
Reportable Legal Entities [Member] | The Guarantors [Member]
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities	63,588	66,645
Cash flows from investing activities:
Cash invested in multi-client data library	(57,192)	(83,884)
Purchase of property, plant, equipment and seismic rental equipment	(4,165)	(7,132)
Repayment of advances to INOVA Geophysical	0	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		(7,897)
Other investing activities	0	76
Net cash used in investing activities	(51,476)	(98,837)
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	(4,470)	(2,516)
Cost associated with issuance of notes	0	0
Capital contribution from affiliate	0	5,695
Intercompany lending	(7,642)	29,013
Payment of preferred dividends		0
Acquisition of non-controlling interest	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	(12,112)	32,192
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	64,284	58,525
Cash flows from investing activities:
Cash invested in multi-client data library	(148)	(2,462)
Purchase of property, plant, equipment and seismic rental equipment	(1,176)	(4,442)
Repayment of advances to INOVA Geophysical	0	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	349	0
Net cash used in investing activities	464	(16,404)
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	(7,267)	(780)
Cost associated with issuance of notes	0	0
Capital contribution from affiliate	0	7,897
Intercompany lending	(29,472)	(31,384)
Payment of preferred dividends		0
Acquisition of non-controlling interest	(6,000)
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	(42,739)	(24,267)
Effect of change in foreign currency exchange rates on cash and cash equivalents	189	(608)
Net increase (decrease) in cash and cash equivalents	22,198	17,246
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period	23,355	30,628
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	45,553	47,874
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	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		13,592
Other investing activities	0	0
Net cash used in investing activities	0	13,592
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	0
Capital contribution from affiliate	0	(13,592)
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	(13,592)
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