Condensed Consolidating Financial Information - Condensed Cash Flow Statement (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2015	Jun. 30, 2014
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities	$ (22,495)	$ 76,738
Cash flows from investing activities:
Cash invested in multi-client data library	(13,598)	(34,317)
Purchase of property, plant, equipment and seismic rental equipment	(17,213)	(4,543)
Repayment of advances to INOVA Geophysical	0	1,000
Net investment in and advances to OceanGeo B.V. prior to its consolidation	0	(3,074)
Net proceeds from sale of Source product line	0	14,394
Other investing activities	257	605
Net cash used in investing activities	(30,554)	(25,935)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Payments under revolving line of credit	0	(50,000)
Borrowings under revolving line of credit	0	15,000
Payments on notes payable and long-term debt	(3,560)	(5,595)
Intercompany lending	0	0
Other financing activities	22	(339)
Net cash used in financing activities	(3,538)	(40,934)
Effect of change in foreign currency exchange rates on cash and cash equivalents	39	(146)
Net (decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents	(56,548)	9,723
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period	173,608	148,056
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	117,060	157,779
Reportable Legal Entities [Member] | ION Geophysical Corporation [Member]
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities	(78,847)	57,755
Cash flows from investing activities:
Cash invested in multi-client data library	0	0
Purchase of property, plant, equipment and seismic rental equipment	(347)	(460)
Repayment of advances to INOVA Geophysical		1,000
Net investment in and advances to OceanGeo B.V. prior to its consolidation		0
Net proceeds from sale of Source product line		0
Other investing activities	0	579
Net cash used in investing activities	(347)	1,119
Cash flows from financing activities:
Payments under revolving line of credit		(50,000)
Borrowings under revolving line of credit		15,000
Payments on notes payable and long-term debt	0	(461)
Intercompany lending	29,755	(46,991)
Other financing activities	22	(339)
Net cash used in financing activities	29,777	(82,791)
Effect of change in foreign currency exchange rates on cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Net (decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents	(49,417)	(23,917)
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period	109,514	124,701
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	60,097	100,784
Reportable Legal Entities [Member] | The Guarantors [Member]
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities	46,942	(23,434)
Cash flows from investing activities:
Cash invested in multi-client data library	(12,728)	(34,203)
Purchase of property, plant, equipment and seismic rental equipment	(774)	(2,773)
Repayment of advances to INOVA Geophysical		0
Net investment in and advances to OceanGeo B.V. prior to its consolidation		0
Net proceeds from sale of Source product line		9,881
Other investing activities	257	0
Net cash used in investing activities	(13,245)	(27,095)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Payments under revolving line of credit		0
Borrowings under revolving line of credit		0
Payments on notes payable and long-term debt	(2,927)	(2,862)
Intercompany lending	(30,770)	53,391
Other financing activities	0	0
Net cash used in financing activities	(33,697)	50,529
Effect of change in foreign currency exchange rates on cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Net (decrease) increase 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	9,410	42,417
Cash flows from investing activities:
Cash invested in multi-client data library	(870)	(114)
Purchase of property, plant, equipment and seismic rental equipment	(16,092)	(1,310)
Repayment of advances to INOVA Geophysical		0
Net investment in and advances to OceanGeo B.V. prior to its consolidation		(3,074)
Net proceeds from sale of Source product line		4,513
Other investing activities	0	26
Net cash used in investing activities	(16,962)	41
Cash flows from financing activities:
Borrowings under revolving line of credit		0
Payments on notes payable and long-term debt	(633)	(2,272)
Intercompany lending	1,015	(6,400)
Other financing activities	0	0
Net cash used in financing activities	382	(8,672)
Effect of change in foreign currency exchange rates on cash and cash equivalents	39	(146)
Net (decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents	(7,131)	33,640
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period	64,094	23,355
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	$ 56,963	$ 56,995