Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Dec. 31, 2012

Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]

Property, plant and equipment estimated useful lives

A summary of property, plant, equipment and seismic rental equipment is as follows (in thousands):

	December 31,
	2012			2011
Buildings	$	15,126		$	15,130
Machinery and equipment	87,127			71,550
Seismic rental equipment	10,895			2,986
Furniture and fixtures	3,403			3,377
Other	3,857			1,727
Total	120,408			94,770
Less accumulated depreciation	(86,636		)	(69,999		)
Property, plant, equipment and seismic rental equipment, net	$	33,772		$	24,771

Multi-Client Data Library

At December 31, 2012 and 2011, multi-client data library costs and accumulated amortization consisted of the following (in thousands):

	December 31,
	2012			2011
Gross costs of multi-client data creation	$	689,464		$	545,836
Less accumulated amortization	(459,149		)	(370,068		)
Total	$	230,315		$	175,768

Estimated Useful Lives [Member]

Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]

Property, plant and equipment estimated useful lives

Property, plant, equipment and seismic rental equipment are stated at cost. Depreciation expense is provided straight-line over the following estimated useful lives:

	Years
Machinery and equipment	3-7
Buildings	5-25
Seismic rental equipment	3-5
Leased equipment and other	3-10