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                                                                   EXHIBIT 10.42

                              EMPLOYMENT AGREEMENT

     This Employment Agreement (this "Agreement") is entered into as of August
1, 2001 (the "Effective Date") between GRANT GEOPHYSICAL, INC. a Delaware
corporation (together with any subsidiary of such corporation employing Employee
at any time during the term hereof (the "Company") and Lee Parker (the
"Employee").

     A.  The Employee has faithfully served the Company as an employee, and

     B.  It is the desire of the Company to continue to employ the Employee on
the terms herein provided and to induce the Employee to continue to render
services to the Company, and

     C.  The Employee is desirous of committing himself to serve Company on the
terms and in the capacities herein provided.

     NOW, THEREFORE, in consideration of the foregoing and of the respective
covenants and agreements of the parties set forth below, the parties hereto
agree as follows:

     1.  EMPLOYMENT: This Agreement supersedes and replaces any previous
Employment Agreement between the Company and Employee. Subject to the terms
hereof, the Company hereby agrees to employ the Employee, and the Employee
hereby agrees to serve Company, on the terms and conditions set forth herein for
the period commencing on the Effective Date and expiring on the third
anniversary of the Effective Date (the "Term").

     2.  POSITION AND DUTIES: The Employee shall serve in the following manner:

         2.1 The Employee shall have the responsibility for the activities as
         Vice President Technology of the Company, or in such other position or
         positions as the parties mutually may agree, and shall have such other
         powers and duties as may from time to time be prescribed by the
         Company's President and Chief Executive Officer (the "CEO") or his
         delegee.

         2.2 During the term of this Agreement, Employee shall devote his full
         time, skill and attention and his best efforts to the businesses and
         affairs of the Company to the extent necessary to discharge faithfully
         and efficiently his duties and responsibilities described herein,
         except for usual, ordinary and customary periods of vacation (as
         provided below) and absence due to illness or other disability or such
         periods of leave as are approved in writing by the Company's CEO or
         other officer.

     3.     PLACE OF PERFORMANCE: In connection with his employment under this
     Agreement, the Employee shall be based in Houston, Texas or in such other
     location as may be designated by the Company and mutually acceptable by
     Employee.

     4.  COMPENSATION AND RELATED MATTERS:

         4.1 Base Salary: Employee shall receive a base salary annualized at the
         rate of U.S $93,300.00 during the term hereof, payable in accordance
         with the Company's then existing payroll policy but in no event less
         frequent than on a monthly basis either by check or cash to Employee or
         to a bank account designated by Employee. Increases in the Base Salary
         during the term of this agreement, will replace and become the
         effective Base Salary for the remainder of the term of the agreement.

         4.2 Stock Options: Company shall grant to Employee, within thirty (30)
         days after the execution of this Agreement (but effective as of the
         date hereof), options to acquire 54,900 shares of

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         the common stock of the Company in accordance with the Company's
         standard Stock Option Agreement at a price of U.S. $2.00 per share.
         This grant shall be in addition to those options, previously granted by
         Company to Employee, that will also be repriced to U.S. $2.00 per
         share.

         4.4 Expenses. During the term of his employment hereunder, the Employee
         shall be entitled to receive prompt reimbursements for all reasonable
         and necessary expenses incurred by him in performing services
         hereunder, provided that the Employee properly accounts therefor in
         accordance with Company policy.

         4.5 Other Benefits. During the term of the Employee's employment
         hereunder the Employee shall be entitled to participate in or receive
         benefits under any employee benefit plan or other arrangement made
         available by the Company now, or in the future, to its officers and key
         management employees or other employees (including without limitation
         any group medical, dental, life insurance and disability programs,
         long-term incentive plans, 401(k) savings plan or any other similar
         plan or arrangement).

         4.6 Vacation The Employee shall be entitled to annual vacation in
         accordance with Company policy applicable in the area described in
         Clause 2.1 above, provided, that upon termination of Employee's
         employment with the Company as a result of, voluntary resignation,
         death, disability or for Cause (as defined herein), the Company shall
         pay to employee upon such termination an amount in cash equal to the
         value of the unused vacation time up to, but not to exceed, four (4)
         weeks.

         4.7 Effective Employment Date. It is agreed that, for the purpose of
         calculating vacation to which Employee is entitled under published
         Company policy the employment date of Employee will be September 3,
         1993.

         4.8 Resident Visa Sponsor. It is agreed that, the Company will sponsor
         the Employee for residency visa during the term of this agreement and
         enforcement of any Non-Compete.

     5.  NON-COMPETE: For the three (3) year period commencing on the Effective
Date, the Employee agrees that he will not, directly or indirectly;

         5.1 engage or invest in, own, manage, operate, finance, control, or
         participate in the ownership, management, operation, financing, or
         control of, be employed by, associated with, or in any manner connected
         with, lend the Employee's advice to, any business or other entity
         engaging in the acquisition, processing or marketing of seismic data;
         or

         5.2 solicit, employ, or otherwise engage, or otherwise engage as an
         employee, independent contractor, or otherwise, any person who is or
         was an employee of the Company at any time during the term of this
         Agreement or in any manner induce or attempt to induce any employee of
         the Company to terminate his or her employment with the Company; or

         5.3 interfere with the Company's relationship with any person,
         including any person who at any time during the term of this Agreement
         was an employee, contractor, supplier, or customer of the Company; or

         5.4 transfer or otherwise dispose of or deal or trade with any party,
         other than Company, any of the Company's proprietary information as
         provided in Section 8 below; or

         5.5 disparage the Company or any of its shareholders, directors,
         officers, or other management or personnel.

This Section 5 shall remain in effect for six (6) months following termination
hereof for any reason. The Employee agrees and stipulates that: (i) the
provisions of this Section 5 are ancillary to and a part of an

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otherwise enforceable agreement, (ii) the limitations as to time, geographic
area or scope of activity to be restrained under this Section 5 are reasonable
and impose no greater restraint than is necessary to protect the goodwill or
other business interest of the Company.

If, however, this Section 5 is determined by a court of competent jurisdiction
to contain limitations as to time, geographic area or scope of activity to be
restrained that are not reasonable and impose a greater restraint than is
necessary to protect the goodwill or other business interest of the Company, or
to otherwise be unenforceable to any extent or for any reason, the Employee
consents to the reformation of this Section 5 by such court to the minimum
extent necessary to cause the limitations contained in this Section 5 to be
deemed reasonable and to impose a restraint that is not greater than necessary
to protect the goodwill or other business interest of the Company, and to
otherwise be enforceable, and to the enforcement of this Section 5 as so
reformed. For purposes of any such reformation, the provisions of this Section 5
shall be divisible.

     6.  TERMINATION: The Employee's employment hereunder may be terminated by
Company or the Employee, as applicable, without any breach of this Agreement,
only under the following circumstances:

         6.1 Death. The Employee's employment hereunder shall terminate upon his
         death.

         6.2 Disability. If, as a result of the Employee's incapacity due to
         physical or mental illness, the Employee shall have been absent from
         his duties hereunder on a full time basis for 120 consecutive calendar
         days, or 180 days during any twelve (12) month period, the Company may
         terminate the Employee's employment hereunder.

         6.3 Cause. Company may terminate the Employee's employment hereunder
         for Cause. For purposes of this Agreement, Company shall have "Cause"
         to terminate the Employee's employment hereunder only in the event the
         Employee has.

         (i)   Committed an intentional act of fraud, embezzlement or theft in
               connection with his duties or in the course of his employment
               with the Company;

         (ii)  intentionally or wrongfully damaged property of the Company;

         (iii) intentionally or wrongfully disclosed secret processes or
               confidential information of the Company.

         (iv)  intentionally violated the provisions of Section 5 hereof, or

         (v)   intentionally failed or refused to substantially follow the
               lawful and proper directives of the Company's President and CEO
               or his delegee, consistent with the Employee's position and
               within his ability to do so.

         For purposes of this Agreement, an act or omission on the part of the
         Employee shall not be deemed "intentional" or "wrongful" if it was due
         to an error in judgment or negligence, but shall be deemed
         "intentional" or "wrongful" if done by the Employee not in good faith
         and without reasonable belief that the act or omission was in the best
         interests of the Company.

         6.4 Employee's Right to Terminate. Employee shall have the right to
         terminate this Agreement by written notice to the Company within 60
         days following the occurrence of a Change in Control (as defined in the
         Company's 1997 Equity and Performance Incentive Plan) that results in a
         diminution in Employee's duties, responsibilities or position in the
         management of the Company. If Employee has made an election to
         terminate this Agreement under this Section 6.4 and has given the
         required notice, then Employee shall be entitled to receive from the
         Company (a) the payment of an amount equal to Employee's then current
         base annual salary payable pursuant to Section 4.1, , and (b) the
         perquisites specified in Section 4.5, in each case, for 12 months from
         the date of the Change in Control. Any amounts due to Employee pursuant
         to this Section 6.4

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         shall be due and payable as and when they would have become due and
         payable had Employee not been so terminated.

              It is the agreement of the parties that, upon execution of this
              Agreement by Employee, this will be a binding agreement between
              the parties and may not be terminated by either party except as
              expressly provided above.

     7.  COMPENSATION UPON TERMINATION: The Employee shall be entitled to the
following compensation from the Company upon the termination of his employment.

         7.1 In the event of employment termination by death or disability or a
         termination by the Company for Cause, the Company shall pay to the
         Employee all current Base Salary owed hereunder through the date of
         termination. Such payment shall be paid when due pursuant to the terms
         of Section 4 hereof.

         7.2 Upon the termination by the Company of Employee's employment with
         the Company for other than Cause, as defined above, compensation due
         the Employee will, nevertheless, be paid in accordance with the
         Company's then existing payroll payment schedule for a period
         equivalent to six (6) months the provisions of Section 5 and 8 will
         remain in force for the remainder of the term of payment.

         7.3 Upon such termination of employee's employment, Employee shall be
         entitled to all benefits, rights and privileges of Employee under any
         and all employee benefit plans or policies of the Company to which
         terminated employees of the Company are entitled.

     8.  CONFIDENTIALITY

         8.1 Employee acknowledges and agrees that in the performance of his
         duties of employment he will be brought into frequent contact, either
         in person, by telephone, through the mail or by electronic
         communication, with existing and potential clients of the Company, or
         its respective subsidiaries, (throughout this Article 8 "Company" shall
         be deemed to include all of its direct and indirect subsidiaries).
         Employee also agrees that trade secrets and confidential information of
         the Company more fully described in Article 8.2 below, gained by
         Employee during his association with the Company have been developed by
         the Company through substantial expenditures of time, effort and money
         and constitute valuable and unique property of the Company, as the case
         may be. Employee further understands and agrees that the foregoing
         makes it necessary for the protection of the business of the Company
         that Employee not compete with the Company as provided by Article 5
         above.

         8.2 Employee will keep in strict confidence, and will not, directly or
         indirectly, at any time during his employment or thereafter, disclose,
         furnish disseminate, make available or, except in the course of
         performing his duties of employment hereunder, use any trade secrets or
         confidential business information of the Company or its clients,
         without limitation as to when or how Employee may have acquired such
         information, whether prior to or during the term of this Agreement.
         Such confidential information shall include without limitation the
         Company's client lists, client information, terms of client contracts,
         any listing of names, addresses or telephone numbers, pricing policies,
         financial statements, projections, marketing plans or strategies, new
         business developments of plans, business acquisition plans and business
         methods.

         8.3 Employee specifically acknowledges that all such confidential
         information, whether reduced to writing, electronic media of any form,
         or maintained in the mind or memory of Employee and whether compiled by
         the Company and/or Employee derives independent economic value from not
         being readily known to or ascertainable by proper means by others who
         can obtain economic value from its disclosure or use, that reasonable
         efforts have been made by the Company to maintain the secrecy of such
         information, that such information is the sole property of the Company,
         as the case may be, and that any retention and use of such information
         by Employee

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         during his employment with the Company (except in the course of
         performing his duties and obligations hereunder) or after the
         termination of his employment shall constitute a misappropriation of
         the Company's trade secrets.

         8.4 Upon termination of his employment, Employee will immediately
         return to the Company, in good condition, all property of the Company,
         as the case may be, including without limitation, the originals and all
         copies of all promotional material, client lists, client information
         and all other materials related to the Company's business. In the event
         that such items are not so returned, the Company will have the right to
         recover such property

         8.5 The provisions of this Article 8 shall survive the termination of
         this Agreement.

     9.  SUCCESSORS; BINDING AGREEMENT:

         9.1 Successors. This Agreement shall be binding upon, and inure to the
         benefit of the Company, the Employee, and their respective successors,
         assigns, personal and legal representatives, executors, administrators,
         heirs, distributees, devisees, and legatees, as applicable.

         9.2 Certain Payments: Any amounts that would otherwise be payable to
         the Employee hereunder at the time of his death or thereafter (whether
         pursuant to 7.2 hereof or otherwise) shall, unless otherwise provided
         herein, shall be paid in accordance with the terms of this Agreement to
         the Employee's devisee, legatee, or other designee or, if there be no
         such designee, to the Employee's estate.

     10. NOTICE: For purposes of this Agreement, notices and all other
communications provided for in the Agreement shall be in writing and shall be
deemed to have been duly given when (a) delivered personally; (b) sent by
telecopy or similar electronic device and confirmed; (c) delivered by commercial
overnight express; or (d) sent by registered or certified mail, postage prepaid,
addressed as follows:

              If to the Employee (marked "Personal and Confidential")

                  Lee Parker
                  1203 Brecon Hall Drive
                  Houston, Texas 77077
                  ( 281 ) 759 4772
                  ( 281 ) 759 4773 Fax
                  ( 707 ) 202 1289 Electronic Fax
                  Lee.Parker@attglobal.net

              If to Company:

                  Grant Geophysical, Inc.
                  Attention:  President and Chief Executive Officer
                  16850 Park Row
                  Houston, Texas 77084
                  Fax: (281) 398-9996

or to such other address as any party may have furnished to the other in writing
in accordance herewith, except that notices of change of address shall be
effective only upon receipt.

     11. ENTIRE AGREEMENT: No provision of this Agreement may be amended,
modified, waived or discharged unless such amendment, waiver, modification or
discharge is agreed to in writing signed by the Employee and Company. No waiver
by either party hereto of, or compliance with, any condition or provision of
this Agreement to be performed by such other party shall be deemed a waiver of
similar or dissimilar provisions or conditions at the same or at any prior or
subsequent time. No agreements or

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representations, oral or otherwise, express or implied, with respect to the
subject matter hereof have been made by either party which are not set forth
expressly in this Agreement.

     12. GOVERNING LAW:

     12.1  THIS AGREEMENT IS BEING MADE AND EXECUTED IN AND IS INTENDED TO BE
           PERFORMED IN THE STATE OF TEXAS AND SHALL BE GOVERNED, CONSTRUED,
           INTERPRETED AND ENFORCED IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE SUBSTANTIVE LAWS OF
           THE STATE OF TEXAS, TO THE EXCLUSION OF ANY LAWS, SUBSTANTIVE OR
           OTHERWISE WHICH WOULD DIRECT THE LAW OF ANY OTHER JURISDICTION TO BE
           APPLICABLE HERETO.

     12.2  The parties agree to attempt to resolve all disputes between them
           concerning this Agreement or the interpretation or performance
           thereof in an amicable manner. However, any such disputes which
           cannot be so resolved shall be submitted to and decided by The United
           States District Court of the Southern District of Texas and the
           parties do hereby irrevocably submit themselves to the jurisdiction
           of such court for such purposes. The parties agree that any decision
           of such court (or any subsequent appeal thereof) shall be enforceable
           in the jurisdiction of the respective parties.

     13. VALIDITY: The invalidity or unenforceability of any provision or
provisions of this Agreement shall not affect the validity or enforceability of
any other provision of this Agreement, which shall remain in full force and
effect.

     14. COUNTERPARTS: This Agreement may be executed in several counterparts,
each of which shall be deemed to be an original, but all of which together will
constitute one and the same agreement.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have executed this Agreement as of the date and
year first above written.

                                              GRANT GEOPHYSICAL, INC.

                                              By: /s/ RICHARD F. MILES
                                                  ------------------------------

                                              Name: Richard F. Miles

                                              Title: President & C.E.O.

                                              EMPLOYEE:

                                              By: /s/ LEE PARKER
                                                  ------------------------------

                                              Name: Lee Parker

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