SL₂-orbits and degenerations of mixed Hodge structure

We prove an analog of Schmid's $\text{\rm SL}_2$-orbit theorem for a class of variations of mixed Hodge structure which includes logarithmic deformations, degenerations of 1-motives and archimedean heights. In particular, as consequence this theorem, we obtain a simple formula for the asymptotic behavior of the archimedean height of a flat family of algebraic cycles which depends only on the weight filtration and local monodromy.