Condensed Consolidating Financial Information - Condensed Cash Flow Statement (Details) - USD ($) $ in Thousands	6 Months Ended
	Jun. 30, 2016	Jun. 30, 2015
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities	$ (12,339)	$ (22,495)
Cash flows from investing activities:
Cash invested in multi-client data library	(8,648)	(13,598)
Purchase of property, plant, equipment and seismic rental equipment	(340)	(17,213)
Other investing activities	0	257
Net cash used in investing activities	(8,988)	(30,554)
Borrowings under revolving line of credit	15,000	0
Cash flows from financing activities:
Repurchase of common stock	(964)
Payments on notes payable and long-term debt	(4,786)	(3,560)
Cost associated with issuance of notes	(6,174)	0
Intercompany lending	0	0
Repayments To Repurchase Bonds	(15,000)	0
Other financing activities	13	22
Net cash used in financing activities	(11,911)	(3,538)
Effect of change in foreign currency exchange rates on cash and cash equivalents	738	39
Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents	(32,500)	(56,548)
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period	84,933	173,608
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	52,433	117,060
Reportable Legal Entities [Member] | ION Geophysical Corporation [Member]
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities	11,112	(78,847)
Cash flows from investing activities:
Cash invested in multi-client data library	0	0
Purchase of property, plant, equipment and seismic rental equipment	0	(347)
Other investing activities		0
Net cash used in investing activities	0	(347)
Borrowings under revolving line of credit	15,000
Cash flows from financing activities:
Repurchase of common stock	(964)
Payments on notes payable and long-term debt	(433)	0
Cost associated with issuance of notes	(6,174)
Intercompany lending	(11,305)	29,755
Repayments To Repurchase Bonds	(15,000)
Other financing activities	13	22
Net cash used in financing activities	(18,863)	29,777
Effect of change in foreign currency exchange rates on cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents	(7,751)	(49,417)
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period	33,734	109,514
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	25,983	60,097
Reportable Legal Entities [Member] | The Guarantors [Member]
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net cash provided by (used in) operating activities	7,580	46,942
Cash flows from investing activities:
Cash invested in multi-client data library	(8,648)	(12,728)
Purchase of property, plant, equipment and seismic rental equipment	(340)	(774)
Other investing activities		257
Net cash used in investing activities	(8,988)	(13,245)
Borrowings under revolving line of credit	0
Cash flows from financing activities:
Repurchase of common stock	0
Payments on notes payable and long-term debt	(3,986)	(2,927)
Cost associated with issuance of notes	0
Intercompany lending	5,394	(30,770)
Repayments To Repurchase Bonds	0
Other financing activities	0	0
Net cash used in financing activities	1,408	(33,697)
Effect of change in foreign currency exchange rates on cash and cash equivalents	0	0
Net 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	(31,031)	9,410
Cash flows from investing activities:
Cash invested in multi-client data library	0	(870)
Purchase of property, plant, equipment and seismic rental equipment	0	(16,092)
Other investing activities		0
Net cash used in investing activities	0	(16,962)
Borrowings under revolving line of credit	0
Cash flows from financing activities:
Repurchase of common stock	0
Payments on notes payable and long-term debt	(367)	(633)
Cost associated with issuance of notes	0
Intercompany lending	5,911	1,015
Repayments To Repurchase Bonds	0
Other financing activities	0	0
Net cash used in financing activities	5,544	382
Effect of change in foreign currency exchange rates on cash and cash equivalents	738	39
Net decrease in cash and cash equivalents	(24,749)	(7,131)
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period	51,199	64,094
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	26,450	$ 56,963
Consolidation, Eliminations [Member]
Cash flows from financing activities:
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period	0
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	$ 0